A Lifetime
by EternityRoze262
Summary: His face lifts to gaze at his sleeping angel, knowing that her lively portrait will soon be destroyed by the final grain of imaginary sand. Her last words resonate with his aging mind, and he deliberately allows her wrinkled, loving hands to slip from his own bony fingers. "Do you think…Zuko, if we met in a different lifetime, do you think things would be different?"
1. Prologue

_Hello readers! Welcome to_ A Lifetime _. FanFiction doesn't have Slice of Life as a genre option, but it's actually one of my favourite styles to write as it corresponds with my goals as an artist. So I am declaring this a slice of life, romance-ish story with some drama._

 _As a bonus(?), this prologue is to commemorate Day 4 of Zutara Week 2016- Lilac. (But it actually has some references to the other themes as well) Published a little late due to work schedules, but at least it's up! Does anyone else listen to emotional/chill instrumental music while reading/writing fanfics? I feel that it's a more engaging experience :) Thanks in advance for reading!_

 _~Roze_

* * *

A Lifetime

By Eternity Roze

 **x - x - x**

\- Prologue -

 _Unable to fly alone, a wingless bird  
Waits for you who has gone beyond a dark dream  
You close your eyes in the everlasting love  
Please tell me you're in a deep sleep_

 _~Dream in a Miniature Garden_

Ninety-five year old Katara laid upright peacefully on a mountain of pillows stacked upon the head of her small, wooden bed. Half of her body was tucked in with warm layers of cotton blankets. Her face relaxed, absorbing the warmth of the sunlight as it illuminated the comfortable room she resided in. She inhaled softly, taking in the scent of her new home.

It had been three months since she was transferred to this nursing home in Republic City…

Two weeks since she sent out the letters to her family and friends…

Five days since the doctors started giving her confused looks…

Five days was too much- she was more than aware of that.

But Katara didn't mind constantly hearing how she was incredibly lucky. She knew just how lucky she really was. Just a week ago, Katara was lying flat on the very same bed, white walls surrounding her. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Despite the fatigue over encumbering her, she was able to capture snippets of the doctors' shared reports as they lingered outside her room.

"… _very weak…_

… _.._

… _it's natural…_

… _.._

 _maybe…_

… _.. …couple days at most…_

… _._

… _.._

…"

 _I forgive you._

A sudden urge to reverse the glass figure,

To tilt the ocean,

Recollect the sands.

Grasping at invisible lifelines…

…..

"Katara?" A familiar voice arose from the doorway. The master waterbender would've recognized that raspy voice anywhere.

"Zuko," she gave a warm smile, welcoming him into the room. She noticed his chest heaving as he breathed heavily and stepped through the doorway. The firebender cordially returned the smile and took careful steps around her bed.

"Don't forget about me," came a chipper voice following behind Zuko.

Katara chuckled. "I could never forget about you, Toph. Thank you both for coming to visit me."

The blind earthbender grinned. "Hey, anything for our old friend."

The two visitors pulled up wooden chairs and sat to Katara's left side, where the sunlight could warm their bodies. As soon as they got settled, Katara found herself faced with flowers, emanating a light, sweet scent.

"We brought some lilacs as a little gift. Zuko's idea. He picked them out." Toph handed her the bouquet nonchalantly and she accepted it with ease.

"They're beautiful," the waterbender replied joyfully and inhaled the lilac's signature fragrance.

"How are you feeling?" Zuko sputtered, wasting no time to jump to the important stuff.

Katara lowered the bundle of lilacs to her lap. "Better now that you two are here."

"Really? You're not too faint or anything?"

The waterbender raised a playful eyebrow. "Do I look faint to you?"

"The letter you sent made it sound like you were in critical condition. I thought… I thought we might have been too late," Zuko stammered.

"It's just old age. There's nothing unusual or critical about it," she calmly reassured.

Her response made Toph snicker. "Same old, stubborn Katara."

Their conversation took off from there, letting one another know what they had been up to for the past decades. They shared and discussed stories of accomplishments, failures, funny incidents, memorable events, and anything else that came into mind. Although, storytelling wasn't really Toph nor Zuko's forte, so it was more like Katara was retelling memories and they just added their own amusing details. Each story followed with either a laugh in unison, strange looks to one another followed by taunts, or a "friendly" argument which often resulted in Toph laughing maniacally, and insisting that she was in the right and to move on with the story or else she would start throwing punches (not really).

While conversing, the earthbender noticed something different in the air. The atmosphere was almost too comfortable, and not just because they were all close friends. She noted how many times Zuko's heart rate hitched, especially when Katara spoke his name. She lost count (and was convinced that he would have a heart attack soon from his heart's heavy pounding). Honestly, Toph couldn't remember the last time Zuko had been so enthralled. (Speaking of which, when was the last time he even smiled?) There was also the sound of Katara's heartbeat, and she swore she could even hear the sound of something flowing deep within. But she decided to keep that observation to herself for now.

The memories led them all the way back to their adventures during the Hundred Years' War. It was unbelievable to think that they had known each other for so long.

Finally, Toph let out a lengthy sigh. "We sure went through a ton of life-changing adventures together, didn't we?"

Katara couldn't stop herself from smiling. "We sure did."

The room grew silent, inviting everyone to reminisce on their own. The tension in the air starting to build, and Katara decided to break the silence.

"Oh, lighten up, you two. I didn't ask you to visit me just to wallow up in past memories and cry the whole evening."

"I don't cry! And neither does Zuko!" Toph snapped, but eyed him suspiciously when he also decided to speak.

"That's kind of inevitable, don't you think? With how you are at the moment?" Zuko insisted but Katara would have none of it.

"I'm fine, Zuko. Even the doctors say so. And it helps that it's been so peaceful around here. It's perfect for sharing moments like this with my friends."

A light knock on the door disrupted their conversation. The three friends turn to find a middle-aged female doctor standing before the door.

"Good evening! It's time for Katara's evening checkup. Visiting hours are just about to end, and then it's the resting hours, so I'm afraid I have to ask you two to leave for the night."

The two visitors agreed and said their goodnights to Katara. Zuko took a final glance back before leaving for the night. Something was off about Katara. Things didn't match up. And he noticed that the veins beneath her skin were prominently more present than usual.

 **x - x - x**

When the two friends were far from hearing distance, Toph swiftly pulled the firebender off to the side, making him stumble before his reflexes kicked in to catch himself. He was just about to question her sudden actions when she whispered to him in a harsh voice, "She's lying."

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. "Lying?"

"Her heart is so weak, I'm surprised she's even alive right now."

It shouldn't have been anything new to him, but hearing that information escape from Toph's mouth confirmed everything he had refused to believe while making the trip to the nursing home.

Zuko recollected himself, trying to sound reasonable. "Katara's a waterbending master. She could be healing herself."

"Not just healing though- healing _and_ bloodbending." She spoke the last word carefully, ending in a whisper. "But she can't keep bending forever. Katara is strong willed, but she also knows when to accept her destiny." Zuko noticed the slight pause as the earthbender straightened to face him firmly once again. "She's resisting… she may or may not be conscious she's doing it, but it definitely explains why she's holding on so tightly."

Hearing the earthbender's truthful words hurt. Zuko shut his eyes tightly, trying to lessen the pain. "Something is keeping her here. She would never, _ever_ resort to bloodbending unless there was," he stated. "Unfulfilled goals? Secrets she needs to pass on to someone? Fear of death?" He racked his brains at the other countless possibilities that could have been the reason for her resistance.

"Whatever it is, she needs to confront it soon." Toph crossed her arms. A second later, her head twitched upward and Zuko stared at her curiously, waiting for her to speak. "I have an idea. Why don't you help find what she's looking for? I'm sure you'll be able to put her at ease."

Zuko bit his lip briefly before answering. "I'll try tomorrow. What about you? What will you do?"

Toph shifted her stance so that she was facing the ward full of doctors gathered around the front desk. "I'm going to talk to some of the doctors around here. See how Katara's _really_ doing."

So much for sharing peaceful moments with friends. Now, they had a new task to fulfill.

 **x - x – x**

He was running on adrenaline now. Thoughts of the waterbender's current state kept him frantic all night; he barely slept. It wasn't like he was obsessed with her, despite how his reactions contradicted that point. There were many things Zuko regretted in his past- how he betrayed Katara was one of them. But that wasn't why he was in such a panicked state. Since they first met in the South Pole, a strange sensation fluttered within him whenever they interacted. That sensation made it very difficult to remove her from his life. He didn't completely hate the result of his life now. It was just… something felt…

Incomplete.

Zuko stormed inside Toph's room the next morning to find her sitting on the edge of her bed with her eyes closed, her arms and legs crossed in a contemplative manner. "So? What did they say?"

"We were right," the blind earthbender confirmed. "The doctors are just as confused as we were about her health. She wasn't expected to live this long, not since they checked her about a week ago."

Zuko's spirits lighten, but just faintly. Hearing that Katara had held out that long was more than reassuring. They definitely wouldn't have made it in time if she had succumbed to it a week ago. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel that it was their fault Katara had surpassed her days of expected survival.

"Her bloodbending…" he concluded softly.

"Yes, but it's not doing any good for her body," Toph firmly reminded.

Zuko didn't think so. If anything, her bending would be making things worse. He could only imagine how exhausting it was to heal herself from the inside out and then force her blood to flow every so often just to keep herself alive. The firebender could understand to an extent, being familiar with his own inner fire and how draining it was to keep that kindling under worst-case circumstances.

But there was another problem. Bloodbending was illegal. Katara herself had made it illegal, and yet here she was disobeying her own rules. It was unjustified, but Zuko forgave her. No one but he and Toph knew about her actions. And truth be told, she was technically already dead, her mind and body only being temporarily prolonged by her bending.

If Katara were dealing with any other medical condition, Zuko would have stayed by her side, reassuring her that they were fighting through her illness together. But there was no avoiding old age. The thought of the inevitable upcoming struck his heart, with almost as much power as Azula's lightning did to his chest years ago. With eyes unfocused, he slumped to his knees.

Toph strode over and rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. "I'm going to miss her too."

 **x - x – x**

Zuko could handle death. He was exposed to more than he needed to during the Hundred Years' War. It was natural. It was part of life. And because of that, Zuko learned to become concrete with his emotions of grief. If he could help it, he would keep those emotions in control, rarely allowing tears to escape. He would let no one see. And he was doing a pretty good job. Except… this was concerning Katara.

If the firebender was simply informed of Katara's death, he would have brushed it off as a false rumor since he was not present to witness it. And if he was never updated on Katara's death until the time of his own passing, he would have strongly convinced himself that she was still alive and well, no matter how illogical that reason was.

But that was not the outcome life struck him with.

Zuko was well informed of Katara's current state, and to make things worse, no one was sure how much longer Katara was going to be able to hold on. It was like a time bomb waiting to go off. Every second mattered, and who knew how much time they had left.

Later that morning, Toph and Zuko entered Katara's room, surprised to discover that she already had a room full of visitors surrounding her. Zuko recognized them all as Katara's family: Tenzin and his family as well as what he concluded to be Katara's other son and daughter. The family turned to see who had was at the door, smiling when they saw familiar faces.

"Toph!" Meelo, the third child of Tenzin, shouted with an open smile.

Toph stepped through the door with her arms held behind her back. "Good morning people. And you, Sugar Queen- how'd you sleep?"

"It was fine, thanks Toph," Katara replied from her bed, still covered in warm layers of blankets. It seemed like she was glued to her spot since no one ever saw her move from her bed. Zuko wondered if she was even capable of walking without assistance.

"You didn't sleep, did you?" Toph said casually, pulling up another wooden chair from the side.

Zuko gave her a knowing look, not wanting to reveal to everyone what the waterbender was doing to her body.

Toph wasn't worried. "You just look tired is all. I don't blame you when you're like this."

Finally, Zuko stepped into the room. "We brought more lilacs." He immediately went to the other side of the bed, where a side desk held a vase with the lilacs they had brought her yesterday. In front of it was a basket full of other various flowers, probably a gift from the rest of Katara's family. Without hesitation, Zuko joined the lilacs together. The flowers bloomed in unison. The light, pale shade of purple along with the bright colours from the basket brought a palette of colour to the room that would have otherwise remained monochrome.

The gesture brought a warm smile to the Katara's face. "Thank you."

All together, the three generations of family and friends huddled around the small bed like it was a fireplace. More than quadruple the stories were being told now. But that also meant quadruple the complaining and quadruple the sorrow. Zuko observed Katara's family, how united they were, the imperfections it held, but also how remarkably alive every one of them were. His eyes wandered the room inconspicuously, and he had a feeling that Avatar Aang, his old friend and Katara's husband, could easily be lingering around the premises.

"Thanks to every one of you for taking the time to enjoy such precious moments with me and everyone here," Katara mentioned after things quieted down.

"Of course," her daughter, Kya, replied. "You're our mother, and we love you."

The earthbender waved a hand out towards the visitors. "Yeah," Toph agreed. "Look at this. You have so much love and support. Even the retired Fire Lord made time to see you. You must be honoured."

"Toph…" Zuko warned in a low voice, embarrassed that she was trying to make an honour joke after all these years, but also because he had a suspicion that she was trying to hint at something else. And he did not want that something to be revealed in front of everyone.

Jinora, the eldest daughter of Tenzin, merely laughed it off. "I still can't believe you two used to be enemies. Would you have ever expected to be friends?"

"Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out," Zuko quoted with a nostalgic look.

Jinora's younger sister, Ikki, jumped in with a spontaneous question. "So when did you two first start becoming friends?"

The children especially awaited his story eagerly, although one could hardly call them children now. Zuko glanced at Katara, wondering if she wanted the privilege of answering that personal question herself. When she pursed her lips together and started playing with the seams of her blanket, the firebender took that as a sign to do the talking. "We came to… an understanding in the Crystal Catacombs under Ba Sing Se," he started slowly.

Well… that was pretty vague, but what else could he say? Zuko realized that this was the first time either of them spoken of what happened in those underground caves. It had been over seventy years and he was still able to recall the pivotal moment. But words never really liked him. And everyone knew he was a horrible storyteller. He waited to see if Katara would pick up the story while everyone else kept their eyes focused on Zuko, waiting for him to continue. But he didn't exactly know how to. Their relationship always seemed to change whenever they were alone together.

Not change… _develop_.

The prolonged silence caught up to them, and finally, Meelo spoke up. "Did you two used to like each other or something?"

"Meelo!" Tenzin started firmly to which the boy rose his hands innocently.

"I'm just asking-!"

"It's okay." Zuko reassured, lowering his head slightly. "There wasn't any time for that back then. War makes things very difficult."

Gold eyes merged with sapphire eyes.

A game of who could hold out the longest.

The awkward turtleduck kept swimming.

Toph grinned. "Why aren't you saying anything, Sweetness?"

"I'm just enjoying the entertainment of having Zuko in the spotlight," she responded. _Nice lie_ , Zuko countered internally.

Fortunately, Katara's response got a laugh out of everyone.

A knock on the door interrupted their small party. The same doctor from last night appeared at the foot of the door. "Pardon me. It's time for Katara's afternoon checkup. I'll have to kindly ask all of you to leave the room for a moment."

All members of the family rose to their feet understandingly before shuffling out the door. Katara watched with thoughtful eyes as each person left the room. Zuko and Toph were the last to leave. Instead of immediately leaving the room, the retired Fire Lord moved to the side desk adorned by flowers. His old hands lightly brushed the clustered petals of the lilacs. He paid intricate attention to the way they danced at his touch and swayed back to a still formation.

Toph noticed Zuko's actions and smirked at his excuse to stall before taking her time out the room, being sure to linger behind just enough to catch in on their conversation. But then, she had another idea. "Hey doctor…"

The female doctor turned to face the blind earthbender and Toph took the opportunity to buy the two friends some time alone. "So about what I was talking about last night, concerning Katara…"

A fresh spring breeze whispered through the open crack of the window. Zuko's eyes widened as the breeze caressed his wrinkled hand and he shifted his head toward the glass frame, lamenting the situation he was in.

"Why lilacs?" a sweet voice rose from Zuko's left. He blinked in surprise, turning to face Katara properly for the first time since he had arrived.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" he said gently.

Katara lowered her jaw to speak, but paused, and Zuko could hear the silent words leave her breath, the words she wished to say. Instead she sunk into her bed, eyes locked with his. "Yes, they are."

Coarse sand melts into glass beads.

Their delicate shape rains from the heavens to the earth.

The ocean piles the entity.

But how many raindrops are willing to be sacrificed to feign perpetuation?

He barricades the water's currents.

But the river continues flowing.

And he feels her life rushing past him.

 **x - x - x**

As Zuko exited the room, his eyes collected on a short green robed figure in front of him. Her eyebrows furrowed and she bunched both fists on the side of her hips.

"You call that trying?" she exclaimed.

Zuko merely sighed, stepping past her. "I can't do this."

But that seemed to be the last straw for Toph. She chased him down the hallway with heavy footsteps. "Really? You're just going to leave it like that? No confession? Not even a hint?" She struck out a hand, bending off the nearest metal doorknob to use as a form of handcuff restraint. Instantly following, she shoved Zuko into the wall clamoring the metal around his wrist, gluing it to the wall and forcing him in place. "Are you being serious right now?!"

"As if what Meelo brought up wasn't a big enough hint already!" he retaliated feeling his cheeks start to heat up and not because of his inner fire. The impact of hitting the wall ruffled his hair, strands of misplaced hair strewed forward. "I can't tell her, Toph. It doesn't matter anymore. It's not going to change anything. It's not going to change who we are, or who we used to be."

Toph merely scoffed. "So that's it? You're really content with how this is going to end? You're going to lose your only chance of telling her how you truly feel about her! And you're not even going to say anything?"

All the yelling had started to attract the workers' attention, and they scrambled to see what the problem was. Toph stomped her foot. "I gotta knock some sense into this guy because he's being a pain in my butt, so you can all pretend you're not hearing anything right now, got it?" Everyone gave the two plenty of private space after her threat.

The old fire lord shut his eyes, thankfully allowing his long bangs to curtain his face. He wasn't surprised that she had been able to unravel his hidden feelings, but now he had to deal with her earthy stubbornness. "Of course I'm not satisfied with how it all turned out. But we're nearing a hundred years old now. It wouldn't be appropriate to speak of it when we've already shared more than half our lives with another loved one- when we've already created a thriving _family_ with another loved one. It's pointless to bring up past feelings now."

The metalbender finally cooled down, satisfied in hearing his honesty. "You know, you haven't been denying that those feelings for her still exist."

"Toph, please," Zuko insisted coldly. "It was a sequence of first teenage love. There is no need for me and Katara to revisit that."

"You're right," she jeered, having had enough of his own stubbornness. "It doesn't matter, because her body is going to give out any moment now anyways. Do you even know how much pain she's in right now? She doesn't show it, but her body is literally falling apart. She's willingly choosing to keep herself alive-"

"I know all that, okay?!"

"I'm not finished! She's willingly choosing to keep herself alive for _you_!"

Zuko lifted his head suddenly, eyes wide open. "Why…?"

Toph ceased her fighting stance, shaking her head. "I don't know. Maybe there are some unspoken truths that need to come out."

"You know that's not an option," Zuko said through his gritted teeth.

"Then at least let her move on."

"What?" Zuko blinked in shock.

"You heard me. Convince her to stop bloodbending." She marched up until she was inches away from his face. Her blank eyes conveyed more determination than his own. "Let her _go_."

Zuko pondered the thought and then narrowed his eyes. "Why can't you convince her?"

"Because, Zuko," she started adamantly while pointing a strong finger at him, " _You_ are the last thing keeping her here. I wasn't too sure before, but after being around the two of you for the past few hours, I am positive that it is because of you. She needs closure, and she's not going to leave until either you do something about it or she runs out of energy to bend."

That seemed to cut him deep. Her last statement left him drifting from reality. There was no way he was going to force more pain onto Katara. Fog began to mist around his eyes but he blinked them away. _He would not show tears_ he reminded himself. He refused to. But it was like the internal rain was washing away his strength. He felt as if the metal clinging tightly to his wrist was the only thing supporting him up now.

Zuko inhaled deeply and choked out a faint breath. "I don't want her to go. Just knowing she was alive in this world was enough to keep me happy."

Toph finally released the metal restraining his hand to the wall, the tension in her body residing. The old man didn't try to recover his strength as he tumbled to the ground. "I know," she said softly. "I'll give you some time to think about it. But remember, there isn't much time _left_."

 **x - x - x**

Katara awoke from the sound of the window opening, not that she was sleeping soundly in the first place. Still in her upright position, her eyes darted to the source of the sound to discover a hand lifting the window wide open. As the intruder climbed into her room, she caught sight of a blaring scar on the left side of the man's face.

She let out a sigh of relief and chuckled at the sight of her old friend still attempting to execute his masquerade as the blue spirit (without the mask). "Aren't you a little too old to be sneaking into a woman's room at night?"

Hearing this, Zuko stumbled and clumsily crashed onto the floor, rubbing his elbows and knees with a groan. "Yep. I'm definitely too old for this."

That brought a young smile to Katara's aged face. She noticed that he did not come empty-handed, and her eyes brightened with the silver moonlight. "You brought more lilacs."

"I thought maybe you'd like more," Zuko reasoned, finally standing on his feet.

"So you decided to come during the middle of the night just to give me flowers?"

The firebender nodded. "You should feel honoured." Now it was his turn to smirk at his own honour joke. Katara playfully rolled her eyes but didn't make any further comments.

As Zuko was about to squeeze the bundle of freshly picked lilacs into the already overflowing vase of lilacs, he noticed, from the corner of his eye, Katara reaching a shaky hand out. Captivated by her humanity, he froze in his tracks, only conscious enough to know he was looking his past emotions straight in the face once again. Involuntarily, he reached his free hand to her, but then stopped himself short. The lilacs in his other hand were handed over to her like a precious treasure.

Katara brought the flowers to her face and inhaled the scent the same way she had first received them a day ago. With a seemingly innocent smile, she tilted her head towards Zuko. "These lilacs symbolize emotions of a first love. Did you know that?"

Zuko swallowed.

He hadn't expected her to be so straightforward.

Although it wasn't like she was implying anything…

Who was he kidding? They were both past their teenage years to know the truth behind those words. And with tonight's decision, there was no need for him to hide anymore.

Zuko nodded his head again. "Yes." Of course he knew the symbolism of lilacs. It was the reason why he had chosen them for her in the first place.

"Good," Katara simply replied and then brought the lilacs down to her lap. "So why are you really here?"

The firebender took a seat on the chair that hadn't moved from that morning. "I thought it would be nice to talk to you alone for once."

"We never really had much time alone, did we?"

"No, we didn't."

"Maybe we should've taken longer on our field trip together." A smile widened on Katara's face, leading Zuko to return the smile.

"Maybe. And have Appa fly around in circles for a bit."

"Aang would've been beyond frustrated at us for using Appa so long."

Zuko restrained a smirk but it failed. "We could've handled him. We fight well together."

The waterbender teasingly retracted at his statement. "Who said I would've fought Aang with you? I would've left all of his fury to you. Aang would forgive me."

"It was your field trip!"

"It was your idea!"

A light flickered on from the hallway, creating a yellow hue visible from underneath the door, and the two friends realized just how loud they had gotten. They crouched as they heard footsteps grow louder, stopping before Katara's room. A shadow appeared at the foot of the door, probably a doctor checking if Katara was in danger, but after a few more exchanged funny looks from the two friends, the shadow retreated and the lights blinked out.

After the spontaneous moment, they settled into the peaceful night. Their eyes met instantly, and Katara fell silent.

"Zuko…" she finally whispered.

"Yes? What is it?"

"What happened to us…? We could've been…" her eyes wandered the room, probably trying to find the appropriate word. "…friends."

"We _are_ friends, Katara," he heartened.

The waterbender diverted her eyes. "I meant that… we didn't have to meet that way, being enemies."

Zuko understood her notion. "There was a war, and we were forced to meet at a bad time." But was there ever such a thing as good timing?

"Do you think…Zuko, if we met in a different lifetime, do you think things would be different?" Her eyes gleamed with hope, the hope that was instilled within her since she was a little girl.

"Yes, I do think things would be different."

"How can you say that so easily?"

Zuko smirked, "Because next time, I'll actually save you from the pirates." He grasped her wrists in the same quick motion that he did years ago, and his face dropped at her touch. For the first time, he realized just how faint she was- her wrists so delicate they would break if he tightened his grip. Zuko could feel the coolness of her wrinkled skin. He could feel the rhythm of her heartbeat from her wrist. He swore he might have even felt her blood rushing from her bending, and wondered if she was feeling it too.

And that scared him.

Katara seemed to read his expression. "I'll hold to it that you do," she said with a sad smile.

"I will. I promise." Zuko affirmed, bringing her bony hand up high enough to press his warm lips on it lovingly. Simultaneously, he reignited his inner fire to produce enough heat to warm her hands. A feeling of comfort purged through his existence when he felt her hands respond to his heat.

He was sure that even Katara knew a promise like that would only hold true in her dreams, but none of them wanted to surrender their game of pretend.

"Thank you, Zuko. I'm happy that you are here." Her speech was barely a whisper.

Zuko caressed her cheek with one hand, keeping his other hand in hers to warm her. But then his face turned serious.

"Katara, I know you must be in a lot of pain. And I want you to know that I am proud of you- for being one of the most powerful waterbenders I've ever had the chance to meet and fight, for being the most forgiving human being in the world to be able to forgive a stupid monster such as myself, but most of all… for being so incredibly strong that you would keep yourself alive, waiting for me."

Katara's eyes watered up immediately, but she tightly pressed her lips shut to repress her overflowing emotions responding to Zuko's revelation.

Sometimes you do not need words to tell the whole story.

Lips slightly ajar. Hands trembling. Unfocused eyes, darting aimlessly across the room, always returning back to his golden eyes. For the first time since he saw her at the nursing home, she looked frightened.

Her voice seemed to catch in her throat. "Zuko…"

"Katara," he spoke softly in return. "It's okay." He didn't need to say any more, didn't _want_ to say any more for fear of his own voice breaking and what would follow afterwards.

Katara didn't need any more words to understand what he was trying to say. Her pure sapphire eyes already seemed to be slipping… fading as Zuko warmly placed his other hand over hers, still holding onto the lilacs.

Finally, for what seemed like an eternity of staring at each other, Katara relaxed her neck and leaned back comfortably, keeping her hand encased in Zuko's, his inner fire still warming her. Zuko watched as her eyes slowly closed, a hearty smile painted on her face and she took a promising breath in. Her shoulders rolled down and all her muscles loosened in the tenseness that was present before.

"I'm tired," she said calmly and gripped Zuko's hand with her remaining energy.

Zuko returned the smile, squeezing back gently and then used one hand to pull the covers snuggly around Katara before returning his hand to its resting place.

"Sleep well." _My dear_ he added in his thoughts.

The tranquil moonlight illuminated the small room through the open window. But Zuko could see the veins underneath her skin begin to sink.

...

Grasping at invisible lifelines

As the sand stands still

Leaving no regrets.

...

The two old friends fell asleep faster than they expected, never moving from their position.

And when morning came…

And Zuko was the only one to wake up…

He wrapped both of his warm hands around her cold hands lovingly…

Trying to bend a gentle heat for her, knowing it was useless,

And lowered his head as her element flowed from his eyes.

 _In such a small bed  
Can you really sleep well?  
You should wake up soon  
Sweetheart, it's morning already…_


	2. Chapter 1

_You made it to the first chapter! Woo-hoo! *gives you all cookies* Now, I know what you're going to be thinking once you jump into this… "AU?! And AU translated names? She didn't even warn us! Is she crazy?" Yes. I am. But for good reason since this corresponds with the whole 'reincarnation/meeting in a different lifetime' theme as well. I gave a lot of thought on the names so I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out who is who. Now, let's give these Zutara babies another chance to make things work (since we all know how their previous lives as Romeo & Juliet, Jack & Rose, Noah & Allie and Darcy & Elizabeth turned out) ;D Thanks for reading!_

 _~Roze_

* * *

\- Chapter One -

 _To cross the line takes a tiny step  
But will the spark cause the bridge to burn?  
My fear entwined with my regret  
I beat a path for safe return_

 _~Thing Called Love (Above & Beyond)_

"What. Monstrosity. Have. You. Led. Us. To?" A teenage boy with a short half ponytail stared flabbergasted at the small house before him. That's all it was, really. A house. For living in. With a door, windows and a front porch. Oh, and there was a large sign in front of the house too. Not that the teenager bothered to read it since he was still questioning the fact that he and his friends were now standing in front of a random house.

His younger sister whirled around with a goofy grin. "It's not a monstrosity, Shaun. It's a fortune telling place!"

Shaun's jaw dropped. "A fortune-?!" he shrieked. "You know what, Kyanna? Following you was a bad idea! You always lead us to creepy places!"

A younger boy wearing a hoodie, marked with a blue arrow, elbowed Shaun in a friendly manner. "Actually, I'm kind of curious to see this fortune teller."

"Me too!" came a cheerful voice from a girl wearing more makeup than she should have for her age.

Shaun stomped his feet and threw his hands in the air. "Then you're all crazy!"

"Or you're just weird," his sister, Kyanna, teased with a winning smirk while crossing her arms.

"How can you believe their crazy murmurings? They don't even tell your future to you straight! They blabber on about general things that you want to hear!"

"Oh come on, Shaun. It's just for fun! You don't need to take everything they say so seriously." With that, Kyanna stepped up to the front door with her two other curious friends following behind.

She knocked on the door gently and it immediately opened. A young girl with pigtails proceeded forward with a welcoming smile. "Hello everyone. I'm Anne Woo's assistant. Please, come in!"

The group entered and made their way to the nearby waiting area. Shaun rolled his eyes impatiently. He wasn't surprised that they were the only visitors in this bizarre place.

The assistant waited until everyone was comfortable in their seats. "Can I get you some tea or Anne Woo's special blueberry scones?"

"I'll take anything you've got," Shaun said raising a finger.

"Shuan!" Kyanna whispered harshly.

"Hey, she offered."

The young girl merely giggled. "Don't worry. I'll bring back plenty!" She scurried away with light feet.

From beyond a long, royal blue curtain, an elderly woman dressed in elegant robes appeared with a professional stance. "Welcome! Now, who's next?"

The group of friends looked around, trying to avoid eye contact like a student desperately trying to avoid being called on at school because they didn't know the answer. Finally, Kyanna glanced at her friends with a smile, and seeing that no one else was volunteering, was more than happy to have the first reading. "I'll go!"

The excited girl was led to a candlelit room beyond the curtains where she was invited to take a seat on a cushioned chair. The older woman sat across from her as a round table covered with a dark cloth separated them. She held out a wrinkled hand.

"Now, place your hand out and I'll do some palm reading about your future."

Kyanna did as she was told and allowed the fortune teller to trace a finger across her love line, watching with determined eyes. She knew her brother was right about fortune tellers and their tricks to predicting one's future, but that didn't stop her from taking some sort of interest in it. It was stunning to think about. Predetermined destinies already chosen for us? Every word, action and response? Surely that was impossible. What was the point then, when there was already a set ending to the story?

Was it written in stone?

Was was like predicting the weather?

Were humans so predictable that behavior patterns led us down similar paths?

Kyanna cleared her thoughts. She reminded herself that she was just curious. But she also wanted some confirmation, and if a fortune teller was the closest there was to that, it gave her hope- something to believe in. In a way, it was like time travelling: to know one's outcome and prepare for it, although she had seen enough cartoon shows about time travel to become aware of the complications that came with the supernatural ability. But if she had information about what her future held for her, maybe she could have more control of it.

Maybe she could have prevented _it_ from happening.

Her free hand raised to twiddle the memento dangling around her neck for comfort. An older version resembling herself flashed through her mind and she tensed for a moment before refocusing her attention to the fortune teller examining the palm of her hand.

"So, do you see anything interesting in my love line?" Kyanna asked with returned excitement.

Anne Woo applied more pressure on her palm. "I see a great romance for you- the man you are going to marry!"

Kyanna's eyes widened as she leaned forward with interest. "Tell me more!"

"I can see that it will be a long journey before you two are finally together. There will be times of separation and struggle, but when you are reunited, it will feel… complete."

"Wow!" Kyanna exhaled staring at her life story sketched on the palm of her hand. Then she locked eyes with the fortune teller in admiration. "Is he going to be handsome? Oh- I hope he's tall!"

The older woman chuckled. "Do not worry. You will be attracted to him," she reassured taking a pause, "…in ways others may never fathom." There was a calming silence as the bewildered girl kept her bright, blue eyes on Anne Woo, waiting to hear more.

Leaning forward, the fortune teller slowly whispered, "You might even cross paths with him this week."

Kyanna couldn't hide the huge smile crawling upon her face. "Oh thank you so much! What about any important events in my future?"

The elderly woman gladly took her time answering the girl's questions.

Minutes later, Kyanna stepped back into the waiting area following Anne Woo. She wasn't surprised to see that Shaun was munching mindlessly on the snacks provided while her other friends, Aaron and Suzie were… having a staring contest? Well, whatever keeps them occupied.

"Who's next?" Anne Woo asked kindly.

Shaun began to stand up, stretching his back. "Okay, let's get this over with."

The fortune teller immediately frowned. "Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted."

Shaun's jaw opened about to speak, but before he could protest, he shut his mouth and frowned suspiciously back at the woman. "Why do I feel like I've heard this before?" he muttered to himself.

"I'll go!" Aaron leaped up and Anne Woo gestured him to follow her.

When Kyanna took a seat on a nearby sofa, her best friend jumped into the seat next to her with a smirk. "So? What did she tell you?" she piped raising her eyebrows.

"Tons of great things! She read my life line and told me I was going to live a good life as long as I followed my heart and to make decisions for myself and…" Kyanna trailed off as she caught sight of Suzie eyeing her in a manner that said she wanted the juicy details.

"And your love life?" she pressed on.

Kyanna bit her lip, glancing around her to make sure no one was truly around and that her older brother wasn't listening in. "She told me about the man I'm going to marry! I might even meet him this week," she said in a hushed voice as her cheeks started heating up.

"No way!" Suzie said in astonishment.

"I'm so excited! I can't wait!" Then she softly gasped. "I need to make sure I look good for him! Suzie, can you help me with my makeup?"

"Of course! Oh! We should totally go shopping soon! Buy some new cute outfits and makeup!" Suzie squealed.

"Yes!" Kyanna agreed as she and her best friend locked fingers and did a mini victory cheer in between giggles.

Shaun took one look at Kyanna and Suzie before throwing himself all over the food again. He shook his head. "Girls."

 **x - x - x**

Nearing the end of the day, the four friends walked back down the quiet streets to their neighborhood. The golden sun was beginning to dip into the horizon, bringing life's colours along with it. Living in a smaller area away from the busy traffic had its perks. As they strolled down the wide street, the road in front of them appeared to stretch on forever. During this time of the day especially, there were rarely any cars that drove by, making it perfect for the friends to claim the entire street as theirs.

Aaron always enjoyed walking straight down the middle of the road, treating the space between the two yellow painted dividing lines as a tightrope. The nine-year-old boy stretched his arms out pretending to balance on the imaginary tightrope and leading the group into the opposite direction of the sun.

Suzie pulled out a golden paper fan that she had skillfully folded herself from origami paper. With a flick of her wrist, she opened the fan unreeling the ribs and then snapping it back together. She continued this repeated motion while Kyanna watched her in amusement. Suzie had always loved making paper fans since they were in elementary school, since it was one of the first and easiest origami to fold. Then the two of them would bring their paper fans outside during hot days at recess and fan themselves to keep cooler. Suzie maintained her love for her hobby and the fans in particular. It was like her good luck charm, keeping her spirits up.

Not everyone was all flowers and sparkles about the day coming to an end though. Shaun kept a frown plastered on his face as he marched behind Aaron. "Great. I've nearly wasted the last day of the weekend before we start off the fourth quarter."

"Aw, don't be grumpy, Shaun," Aaron said, happily turning back to look at his friends. "Hey! I know! Why don't you all come over to my place? I have a great new videogame for four players!"

Shaun appeared to be considering Aaron's suggestion. "Can I kick Kyanna's butt in the game?"

"Sure, if you're good enough," Aaron shrugged innocently.

Shaun's face brightened and he whipped around to his sister. "Oh yeah! You're going down, Kya!"

"Not if I beat you first!" she retorted.

"No, you're all going down!" Suzie chimed in.

They all raced to Aaron's house located further up the street...

And were greeted by a huge white fluffy dog. The dog ran towards the group, greeting his owner and almost knocking him over in the process. Aaron let a laugh escape as his dearest friend licked him affectionately. "Hey there, Appa!"

Kyanna and Suzie joined in on the fun and playfully pet Appa's soft fur. Shaun, on the other hand, simply rose a clenched fist near his mouth and cleared his throat.

"Greetings, Appalachian!" he said in a professional (and deeper) voice.

"Do you have to call him by his full name every time?" Kyanna eyed him like he was the goofiest person she had ever met. He probably was.

"He's got a mighty great name for a Great Pyrenees! Legendary! He deserves to be called by his rightful title! Not by some dinky cute nickname!" Shaun defended. Appa took the opportunity to playfully tackle Shaun as well, knocking him over and getting a laugh out of everyone. The teenager smiled and finally stroked his fur as well.

"So what's this new game?" Suzie asked as they entered Aaron's house and headed straight to his bedroom.

"Ta-da!" Aaron held out the videogame case displaying a collection of powerful fighting characters charging outwards from the center of the cover. Everyone gave each other their game face and settled themselves in front of the television screen.

After hours and countless rounds of fighting in every single stage as various characters, the group decided to call it a night. For the final results, Aaron placed first, Kyanna second, Suzie third and Shaun last (not necessarily meaning he did the worst; it was all a very close call). Kyanna let out a dominating victory cry, rubbing her win in her brother's face.

Shaun merely grouched. "Yeah, yeah, that's only because you all decided to gang up on me. But you have to admit that I'm the best at controlling the guy with the space sword!"

Kyanna paused to study her brother's form. "Fine, I'll give you that," she said with a heartwarming smile.

Suzie let out a long yawn. "Well, I'm getting really tired now. We should probably head back to your place."

"You're sleeping over?" Shaun questioned.

"Don't I always?" She flipped her short brown hair and Kyanna could've sworn she saw Shaun blush.

"I suppose so. It's not like I hang out with you _girls_ at your sleepover, so I don't know when you're over or not."

Aaron also yawned and shut off his game system. "Thanks for a great day! Wish I could say I'll see you guys at school tomorrow," he said already collapsing onto his bed.

"Just one more year!" Kyanna reassured and then caught sight of the time. "Oh-no! It's super late! Gran's going to yell at us again for being out so late on a school night! Goodnight Aaron!"

The boy sat up in his bed, his hoodie falling back when he rose to reveal his short dark brown hair. "Goodnight Kyanna. Goodnight everyone."

Before Shaun left the bedroom he abruptly stopped, making Suzie run right into his back. Her eyes widened as she brought her arms in front of her chest but Shaun didn't seem to notice her reaction. "Wait, how come we don't get a personal goodnight?" Shaun remarked to which Aaron rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous smile.

"Oh, well you two didn't say goodnight to me personally yet either, so I just-"

"Oh stop trying to imply something, Shaun," Suzie interrupted as she pushed the teenager out the door. She turned to give her friend a final friendly farewell. "Goodnight Aaron.'

Aaron gave a weak chuckle as he collapsed back onto his bed.

 **x - x - x**

The next day at school turned out to be another typical day of learning. Third quarter tests were over and new topics for the fourth quarter greeted all the students of Sozin Middle School on a very bright and early Monday morning. Much joy. But all the students complied with the unavoidable setting, each to their own extent.

Kyanna breezed her way through her classes, not really caring too much for the classes but still putting forth her best effort that she could muster up. The classes weren't excruciatingly difficult. To her, all it took was time and practice to understand the material. As long as she turned in homework and studied, she was good to go.

During the 6th grade lunch period, Kyanna and Suzie sat in their usual spot toward the back of the cafeteria talking about last night's occurrence.

"He wears cologne!" Suzie recalled taking a bite out of her apple. "I could smell it when I bumped into him last night."

"Uh-huh." Kyanna listened while soaking up the excess grease out of the school lunch's pizza with a napkin. "And?"

"It smells good!" her best friend cried out as if she had never smelled cologne before in her life, despite being a makeup queen.

"Yeah, that smell is practically everywhere in his room."

Then Suzie said something that made Kyanna nearly drop her grease-soaked napkin. "You think it's what?"

"I think it's kind of attractive," Suzie repeated shyly, diverting her eyes.

"My brother? Attractive? Well, if you think so. Honestly, I never expected you to be interested in him." She picked up her pizza and took a bite.

Her best friend leaned forward. "You know what the fortune teller told me? She said the guy I would be with would have an irresistible scent."

Kyanna tilted her head. "That could be anyone. All cologne smells good."

"But this one is _really_ good!" Suzie clasped her hands together and looked up as if she was praising Shaun like a celebrity. Kyanna almost rolled her eyes at her best friend's actions.

"Just don't rush into it," she warned and then her eyes skimmed behind Suzie just in time to see someone glaring at their table. She waved a hand in front of the infatuated girl. "Hey! Snap out of it! The Demon Princess is staring at you like you're crazy," she said in a low voice.

Suzie blinked and made a look of disgust. "Asandra? Is she still looking this way?"

"Yes," Kyanna replied and saw Asandra surrounded by her two best friends, giggling at each other with a smoothie in each of their hands.

"Ugh. Can I throw your grease soaked napkin at her face?"

"You know she would do something 'unspeakably horrible' to get back at you." Kyanna didn't really have a problem with Asandra, at least not yet. Alessandra Agni, also known by the students as the Demon Princess, ruled Sozin Middle School. She might as well have ruled the entire region.

You were crazy if you didn't know who Asandra was. She would engrave the name into your mind, make you repeat it until you were saying it in your sleep. Her personality especially made her simply unforgettable after just one encounter with her.

After hearing all those rumors about the Demon Princess, Kyanna made sure to stay out of her way. Luckily the only encounters she had with Asandra were when she was hanging out with Suzie, but even then she was never directly involved with her. The girl always interacted with Suzie in a rather… extravagant way.

Suzie had had Asandra as an assigned partner for a science project to create a successful rocket out of a plastic bottle and other personally chosen materials, and apparently Asandra bossed Suzie around the entire time, shut down her ideas and created everything to her own preference. "I've never felt so disrespected! It's worse than your brother's sexist remarks!" as quoted by Suzie. It was then that she decided to learn tessenjutsu, utilizing her precious origami fans to defend herself from the Demon Princess.

She wasn't the only one to hold those opinions. Numerous students complained how inhuman and terrifying Asandra was (never to her face of course). But sadly to say, she wasn't an ugly face to look at. She was actually decent. Okay, she was pretty. To sum it up, everyone both feared and respected her. Everyone except for Suzie and Kyanna that is, or at least that's what they wanted to believe.

"I'm not afraid of her," Suzie finally stated taking a sip of her water.

"You should be," came an ominous voice. The two best friends turned to the side where Asandra confidently walked past their table accompanied by her best friends Marissa and Teresa- _Alerissa_ as their trio was known.

"You think you can control everyone with your high and mighty act, but you'll never break my walls!"

"Sooner or later fan-girl. I mean, look at you; you easily gave in to the guy after just one whiff of his cologne. You'll come around." Then Asandra continued walking past their table with a satisfied smirk. "Teri, Mae," she addressed her friends as they followed close behind and out of the cafeteria.

By this time, Suzie was about ready to explode, her face already turning beet red. Kyanna stepped in before her friend embarrassed herself even more. She placed a comforting hand on Suzie's arm. "It's okay. Don't let it affect you. Asandra has ears and eyes everywhere and knows everything." Her friend whipped out her perfectly folded paper fan hidden in the sleeve of her long-sleeve shirt and held it out aggressively in the direction Alerissa left.

"That's what makes her even more horrible," she said never taking her eyes off the now empty doorways of the cafeteria.

 **x - x - x**

The last period of the day came around and Suzie and Kyanna were in the middle of passing notes when all of a sudden, the lights went out. A sound of surprise escaped the students in unison as their eyes adjusted to the dimmed lighting from the sunlight alone. Heads were turning this way and that while the teacher was trying to settle down the students.

"What is going on?" Suzie said slowly, noticing how even the lights in the hallway were out.

"I'm not sure," Kyanna replied, glancing at the clock. There was still twenty minutes of school left. She almost felt bad for the teacher. The female teacher was obviously trying to keep her students in control but after something unusual like this happening, trying reverting back to the day's lesson was a lost cause.

A couple minutes later, a loud beeping resonated throughout the school building before a male's voice sounded. "Good afternoon everyone. Sorry about the sudden lights out; it seems that we've hit a technical issue which will, unfortunately, take some time to fix; so as a result, you're all dismissed early and we'll see you all again tomorrow morning!"

The classroom went up in cheers as everyone grabbed their books, shoved them in their backpacks or just carried them and leapt out of their seats to the door. Meanwhile, the teacher tried to shout over all the commotion but with little success. "Okay, class! Make sure you do the homework for tomorrow! I'll be collecting it!"

Kyanna and Suzie packed their supplies as quickly as they could and make a beat for the door as well.

"Early dismissal! Yes!" Suzie cheered.

"Fifteen minutes earlier but I'll take it!" Kyanna added as they ran to their lockers conveniently in the same hallway.

Out of nowhere, Shaun appeared shouting wildly in Kyanna's face. "Kya! Isn't this great?! Maybe for once I won't miss the beginning of Earth Rumble 6!"

"You're walking home?"

"Uh yeah!" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The busses are still leaving at the usual time! But if we run, I'll make it in time for the show! Now, hurry up!"

"Wait! I have to use the bathroom! Really bad!"

"You have to what?!"

"I'll be right back!" she said immediately swinging her backpack over her shoulder and taking off down the hallways.

"If you take too long, I'm leaving without you!" he yelled after her. "Girls always take so long in the bathroom," he grumbled to himself, but his anger faded when he noticed Suzie still grabbing her stuff out of her locker. Suzie caught him staring at her and nearly dropped her textbook. They both froze in silence for a couple seconds.

Shaun shuffled his feet in place with his arms behind his back. "So… you wouldn't happen to like Earth Rumble 6, would you?"

 **x - x - x**

Kyanna's hands rested on the lock of the bathroom stall when she heard an all too familiar cackle echo throughout the bathroom walls. She was more than certain that Alerissa had just entered. Great. Maybe she could just sneak past them or make a run for the door. But knowing Asandra, there was no way she would be able to just leave without some sort of interaction with her. She decided to wait it out, at least for now.

"Those pathetic construction workers struck the power line. Unreliable amateurs," Asandra's voice rung out with her signature arrogant tone.

 _So that's why all the lights went out_ Kyanna concluded. She hated to admit it, but that girl sure knew how to get her information.

"Why do we even need a new football field? The school's already got budget cuts and what do they do? Spend what money they have left on a football field." That was Mae's voice. Kyanna could tell by the monotonous sound of boredom that defined Mae's soul.

Then a chipper higher pitched voice chimed in. "Don't worry! Asandra's got it all worked out already. A little donation with the help of Mr. Agni and the school will be on great grounds again!"

"Teri, don't spill out all our generous plans when there's someone else listening in," Asandra teased, and Kyanna pressed her lips together. "So are you going to come out or keep hiding in there like a little girl?"

Kyanna took a preparatory breath. _Everything will definitely be alright_ , she reminded herself. It was a line taken from the main character of her favourite animation series when she was young. She and her mother used to watch it together. Years ago, Kyanna wanted to become stronger like her mother, but lacked the strength to; so in order to raise her spirits, her mother repeated to her the invincible spell as recited by the main character in the show. The phrase remained with her, keeping her going through the roughest times. Oh the things she did to keep herself sane. She wasn't necessarily afraid of Asandra. She just didn't want to have to deal with her.

On a silent exhale, Kyanna stepped out from the stall and washed her hands as quickly as possible, noticing the Demon Princess adjusting her topknot bun in the mirror while Teri stretched her legs with the incredible flexibility she had and Mae stood motionless against the wall with her arms crossed. Just as she was about to leave, Asandra stood in her way.

"Did you say something?" she said with an incredulous look.

"Um, no? I didn't say anything," Kyanna answered.

"Exactly. Show some respect to royalty."

Kyanna wanted to splash Asandra's face with the sink water. Just because Asandra's father was a successfully wealthy and well known businessman in the area didn't mean she had to treat his daughter like royalty.

"I will treat others the way they treat me, and right now _this_ is what I'm getting from you. I hope you like yourself," she countered with a strong voice, making sure to keep her eyes firmly locked with Asandra's golden eyes. Without another word, she moved past Asandra and her friends and disappeared into the hallways.

The Demon Princess tried to appear unfazed. She was normally a natural at keeping her emotions in control, yet the short encounter with that ordinary girl was enough to tilt that balance by just a hair.

 _Just a hair._

She convinced herself that it was practically nothing, for just this once.

 _Just this one time._

Unfortunately, Teri had to bring up that blatant fact. "Why'd you let her go?"

That was a mistake for her to say. But Asandra regained control of her emotions and brushed the comment aside. "She's not worth the trouble. A Princess knows how to pick and end her fights maturely and with honour." Then she pulled out her cellphone which had just vibrated notifying her of new text message.

 _I'm in the back. We're leaving without your brother so hurry up. –Dad_

A victorious grin crept onto Asandra's face. Her two best friends knew something good was up and awaited her orders.

"Girls, let's find something to annoy my brother."

 **x - x - x**

When Kyanna finally reached her locker again, she noticed that both Shaun and Suzie were gone. "I didn't take that long, did I? Maybe I can still catch the bus!" Kyanna ran to the reserved parking space for the busses only to see that her bus was already leaving the parking lot. She pondered her options: walk home by herself or make a futile attempt to chase after the bus like an idiot.

She choose the former.

It wasn't like the walking route home was new to her. She and her brother had walked down that route countless times before. But this was the first time she was doing it alone. As Kyanna progressed down the sidewalk, she mentally noted that being by herself was definitely better than having an annoying older brother nagging and teasing her every second of the way. And after all, Kyanna was eleven years old now. She could take care of herself.

All was going well and Kyanna was beginning to enjoy the tranquil sounds of nature. She admired the lively colours everywhere she turned. The time she had alone always left her with an assortment of thoughts; and as a result, she was always trying to occupy herself to keep her mind busy- hanging out with Suzie, focusing on her studies, stepping forward and taking on the adult responsibilities that would have been her mother's if she were still alive.

With a nostalgic look, Kyanna pressed a hand to her neck where a silver chained necklace with a circular amulet engraved with the letter K decorated her front. This was the last memento she had of her mother before she was brutally ripped away from her life. A jarring memory flashed in her mind but she shook her head to rid of it. She refused to think about her last moments with her mother and how she could have saved her. She already spent years dwelling in sorrow about what she could have done if only she were stronger. It had been three years now. Kyanna convinced herself that she did indeed grow stronger and would continue that growth. She didn't want to be the helpless little girl she was back then.

As Kyanna turned a corner, something distinct caught the corner of her eye. Two older looking men lurked carefully from a distance, clearly staring her down while trying to appear inconspicuous. Kyanna returned her posture forward, continuing to walk casually. She noted how suspicious the men appeared with their hands in their jean pockets and the way they glanced around… probably to make sure no one was watching them. Or maybe Kyanna was being paranoid. Surely they were just friends taking a stroll around the block.

After a couple seconds, Kyanna pretended to reach back to fix something from her backpack and she noticed how the two men had also turned the corner and were still following her. Kyanna swallowed. Not wanting to alert her followers, she kept a steady pace and looked around at her surroundings to find a distraction- something…anything to keep her safe! Her heartbeat hitched and she gripped the straps of her backpack tighter, her palms already starting to sweat. As her breathing increased, she spotted another student turning from another street into the direction she was heading in. At least… she hoped it was a student. He was young and carrying a backpack- that was good enough for her!

At this first opportunity, Kyanna darted forward trying to look excited as she ran to catch up with the guy. "Hey! There you are!" she shouted. The student turned around to look at her and Kyanna noticed he looked beyond her for a split second but maintained his demeanor.

"I thought you left without me! How's it going?" she continued with her act, looking up at him with a smile after finally catching up with him.

The teenage boy stared back at her a little confused, and Kyanna darted her eyes between the two older men and the student's gaze. She felt a little bad that she had dragged this guy into her dilemma but at this moment, he was her last hope!

What the teenager did was nothing like what Kyanna expected. He stretched his left arm out as an invitation, but also to flex his muscles (showing the two men just who they were dealing with) before wrapping it around Kyanna in a side hug to make their fabricated friendship appear more believable. Then he swiftly sent a menacing glare in the two men's direction.

"Oh, hey!" he finally replied with a smile. Kyanna lightly blushed at his touch. She quickly caught him staring at her… chest?! "Ka...taro-A! Katara! Nice to see you! What's up?"

Oh, never mind. He was looking at her necklace.

Kyanna almost laughed at his lame recovery. "Just on my way home. My brother's a jerk and apparently I took too long in the bathroom, so he took off without me. Can you believe him? And then on top of that, I miss my bus! So here I am walking home."

"I feel you," the boy replied facing forward with his arm still tightly around her. "The only reason I'm walking home is because my dad is mad at me, so he picked up my sister and immediately drove off."

Kyanna noticed the hurt in his voice and her smile dropped. "Wow, you must've really upset him."

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Not a problem," she said but didn't want their façade to end just yet in case the two men were still lingering behind them. She desperately sputtered out the first thing that came into mind. "So uhh, that math test!"

The subject change seemed to catch the guy off guard as well. He blinked rapidly and met her gaze with a stunned look. "Uh, yeah! It was… stupid!"

Stupid? Was that really the best he could do? Kyanna bit her lip to hold back her laughter for the second time. "I'm pretty sure I screwed up half of the word problems. Ugh, why do they have to word everything like a trick question?"

"Like how women talk."

Kyanna gave him a did-you-really-just-say-that look. "Ha Ha," she replied slowly. "Not all women are like that, you know. And I thought dealing with my sexist older brother in the house was already bad."

At her response, the student glanced down at her with a sorry look. "I'm just kidding around."

"You better be." She glared at him.

"I am. You're right. My mother was never like that." He looked away as if he was in deep thought and Kyanna's eyes softened in realization. She felt her necklace again and then also gazed into the distance.

"My mother was never like that either," she said softly.

And as those words left her mouth, she felt a sense of unity between her and the random student she had met mere seconds ago. It was almost unbelievable that they were able to connect so easily and converse as if they had known each other their whole lives already. Well… that's what they were pretending to do anyways for the sake of losing the stalkers. She just didn't expect it to go this smoothly.

No one said anything after the mention of their mothers, but Kyanna felt the silence to be… comforting, not at all awkward or tense like how it usually would be. She could feel her body warm up being so close to him. And that's when she remembered what the fortune teller predicted for her.

"… _the man you are going to marry… when you are reunited, it will feel… complete. You might even cross paths with him this week…"_

Was it possible?

Was this… the guy?

 _No, Kyanna, you're getting way ahead of yourself_ she contradicted internally, but couldn't help wondering if the guy beside her really was _the one_.

 _No, no, that's ridiculous_ she argued again. _Fortune tellers aren't one hundred percent accurate. There's no guarantee that he's…_

Kyanna shifted her eyes upward to take a good look at him. And she nearly drooled. _…holy fudge. Not that I would mind if we got together._

Kyanna hated her thoughts for being at war with each other.

The two students turned another corner and gave a sigh of relief when the two older men were nowhere to be seen. The boy immediately removed his arm around her and they slowed to a stop before facing each other. Kyanna looked around nervously before speaking.

"Hey, thanks for playing along. I don't know what would've happened if you weren't there."

The other student hesitated a bit, keeping his eyes from meeting hers directly. "You're welcome." There was no emotion in his voice though, and Kyanna wondered just how much of their conversation was actually an act. He didn't look like he was going to say anything else either so she took the initiative to talk.

A cunning smile crawled upon her face. "But really though? Katara? What kind of a name is that?" That seemed to make him flustered and he lightly blushed.

"I-it was the first thing that came into mind when I saw your K necklace!" he defended.

"That wouldn't be the first name _I_ would think of starting with the letter K."

"I blanked out, okay? And before you came, I was craving _taro_ bubble tea and my annoying little sister just happened to surprise message me with a video of the ham _taro_ theme song."

Kyanna crossed her arms teasingly. "All I hear are excuses. And you thought changing taro to tara would make it sound more like a girl's name?"

The guy was practically fuming now, much to Kyanna's enjoyment. "You appeared out of nowhere and gave me no time to think! I'm not bad at coming up with names! It was just bad timing!"

"Relax, I'm just teasing. Thanks again for all your help," she said earnestly while bringing her arms back to her side again.

The boy calmed down, giving her a sincere smile after their little quarrel. And then there was silence again.

Kyanna brushed a loose hair behind her ears as a nervous habit. "So uh! You attend Sozin Middle School too huh?"

The serious, determined look was back on his face, and Kyanna's face fell in disappointment that his smile had once again dwindled faster than she could imagine. She mirrored his expression involuntarily. But on the plus side, he was finally maintaining eye contact with her.

"Yeah- my last year in middle school," he answered.

"Darn, you're two years ahead of me. No wonder I never see you around."

More silence. Kyanna wondered if she was trying too hard, but she expected something more from a guy who had just helped her out of a sticky situation. From the way he was acting now, it was like he was trying to avoid her like the plague. Did he dislike her that much?

"Well, I have to be getting home now," he said nonchalantly.

"Oh, right. Don't want your dad to be even more upset."

He gave her a deadly glare and in that instant alone, Kyanna felt a sudden rush of chills penetrate her body.

"Sorry," she croaked. "I probably shouldn't have said that-"

"It's okay. You didn't know." His eyes wandered aimlessly before resting below her eyes. Noticing where his attention was, Kyanna gripped her pendant, interrupting his gaze. He met her eyes for a pure second before cutting their connection. "Bye." He turned to leave, but Kyanna took a step forward.

"Wait! We'll see each other around school, right?"

The teenager merely stared back with cold golden eyes, his pale skin radiating a tense atmosphere. His eyes locked with hers as if he was searching for something lost, hoping to find it within her.

"I'm sorry. I don't think we will."

 **x - x - x**

Kyanna paced back and forth in her room with a scrunched up face.

"I'm sorry. I don't think we will," she repeated for the umpteenth time in her best manly impersonation, and then threw her hands in the air. "Who does he think he is anyways? Telling me that we can't even say hi to each other in the hallways. I wasn't even asking if we could be friends! Ughhh! Stupid-! Self-absorbed-! Jerk!" She released an angry growl. "I don't care how handsome he looked! Or the fact that he saved me- no, he didn't even save me! He was just…" But she drifted off, remembering when he had wrapped his arm around her, acting like her bodyguard. She had felt the tightness of his muscles squeezing her close to him, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks at the distinct memory.

"Sounds like someone's in looove," came a strikingly annoying voice in a sing song tone.

Kyanna was snapped out from her reverie. She twirled around to face her brother in the open doorway. "Shaun! How long have you been standing there?! Get out! And I'm not in love!"

"That blush on your face tells me otherwise," he continued to tease but then crossed his arms as he leaned against the door frame. "Gran's been calling you to dinner for like five minutes now and said we can't start eating without you! So I told her I'd come to get you myself, just like the nice brother I am."

That last statement triggered her built up anger. "Yeah- the 'nice' brother who left me to walk home from school _by myself_!"

"We've walked that route hundreds of times before, Kya. It's not like you were going to get lost."

"No, but two suspicious older men could've kidnapped me!"

That seemed to catch his attention and his expression shifted to that of seriousness and concern. "Wait, what happened?"

As quickly as her anger fumed, it left her as she exhaled. She didn't want to involve Shaun on any more of her personal business. She didn't even want to remember it anymore. "Nothing. I'm fine now, and that's all that matters."

Shaun was all right with that answer.

"Okay," he said upliftingly. "Let's eat! The food's getting cold!" He dashed back to the dining room with a sulking Kyanna following slowly after.

"Darn!" she muttered to herself as a realization hit her. "I didn't even ask the jerk what his name was."


	3. Chapter 2

_Remember when you were a butthead in middle school? Yeah, the kids here are still buttheads. They're kids. On another note, since this is my dedicated little author note space to communicate with you readers, I'll share a little something. Now, I'm aware that many of you clicked on this story because obviously it's centered on Zutara! I'm going to tell you right now that I am an 'evil' author and if you haven't read my biography yet, you might be interested to do so. I am in love with the dark side of beauty (however you interpret that to be). *mumbles* I'll show Bryke just how "dark and intriguing" the relationship can be… *Ahem* Everything will be revealed in due time. That's the beauty of stories. Hope you've been catching and enjoying the parallelism as that is the reoccurring theme. I don't want to expose too much so to end this note, I'll have Uncle Iroh remind us that "Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday." Have I confused you enough? Have I scared you off now? Azula has probably infiltrated my soul. Don't worry, Zutara still and will always remain close to my heart. Thanks for reading! *Throws fire flakes*_

~Roze

* * *

\- Chapter 2 -

 _I will travel the distance in your eyes  
Interstellar light years from you  
Supernova; we'll fuse when we collide  
Awaking in the light of all the stars aligned_

 _~Telescope (Starset)  
_

Kyanna scanned the crowded hallways the next morning as she maneuvered her way to her first hour class. Her face grew to a more and more obvious pout when each person who passed wasn't _him_. First hour would start in a few minutes, but the determined girl figured she could use every available moment to search for the guy from yesterday. The school wasn't that big. She was bound to run into him sooner or later, especially when she was in the hallway where more of the 8th grade classes were located.

The hallways filled with conversation that quickly merged together, becoming meaningless noise in the background. Kyanna hugged the textbooks in her arms, her eyes constantly darting to her right and left, not wanting to let a single person pass her inspection. She was so focused on finding the nameless student that she became completely oblivious to the strange looks the other students were giving her as they walked past. It was a sweetly familiar voice that awoke her from her deep trance.

"You look antsy."

Kyanna barely turned her head before Suzie came into sight. She flinched at her best friend's appearance. "What? No I don't!"

"Sure you don't," Suzie teased with a sly grin. "So who's the guy, Kyanna?"

"Wha-I-… there is no guy!" the flustered girl retaliated, but this only made her best friend even more excited and she sprung closer.

"Ooh! He must be a real hottie!"

"No he's not! I mean-! There _is_ no guy!" Kyanna marched forward.

"That's because you don't want to share him!" Suzie shouted as she ran to catch up with her. Then a thought came to her and she leaned in so close that Kyanna could feel her breath as she whispered, "Wait! Don't tell me you already met the guy the fortune teller was talking about!"

Kyanna paused trying to keep a blank face. "Nope."

"I knew it!" the brunette exclaimed. "So? What does he look like? What's his name?"

Kyanna rolled her eyes before turning to face her friend. "For the last time, Suzie, there is no-!"

Suzie sent her a sudden death glare to which Kyanna snapped with the truth.

"Fine! He's absolutely gorgeous and I have no idea what his name is!"

The curious friend immediately returned to her bubbly self. "You mean you didn't even ask him his name? How could you forget that?"

Kyanna sighed and her face relaxed. "It's a long story. Everything happened so quickly, it just slipped my mind."

The two minute warning bell sounded. By now, the two 6th graders were far from their first hour classroom and would have to make a dash for it if they wanted to avoid being tardy. Suzie made the decision to head to class. "Tell me at lunch!" she said waving a hand and headed back the way they came.

Kyanna was left alone standing in the middle of the hallway as students moved around her as if she was a boulder in the river and they were the water's currents. Strange. It should have been the other way around.

Not wanting to appear like a person to pity, Kyanna spun around and began to tread toward the end of the hallway. If she took the stairs up to the next floor, she would reach her classroom just before the bell rang. With a sharp inhalation, she picked up her pace.

The previous moments with Suzie replayed in her mind. It was the first time she had admitted to another person that she was interested in the guy, and confessing that statement out loud to another person meant she was one step deeper with being involved with him. Trying to forget about him now was suddenly starting to grow more and more impossible.

Kyanna relived the recent conversation between her and Suzie, remembering every word spoken with the same tone, every facial expression with precise timing, and every reaction she had had. A kopfkino. Her mind was like a movie theatre where she held the remote control. She could rewind, pause, loop, fast-forward and slow down every memory that held importance to her. The only action she couldn't control was the ability to shut off the memory, to erase it from her mind. She knew some people were like a light switch, who could easily turn everything in their lives on and off with a flick of the switch. But not Kyanna. Her memories were recorded and collected on shelves. She both loved and hated how those recordings would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life. That's exactly what happened with her memory of the boy who came to her rescue yesterday. Now premiering: Girl Meets Boy and their Fateful Encounter! No matter how hard she tried, the movie was on a never-ending loop: his muscular arm around her, their receptive conversation as they pretended to be close friends, the genuine smile on his flawless face when she thanked him, the silent screams that pleaded for help when their eyes locked, the way his last words rendered her speechless... _"I'm sorry. I don't think we will…"_ With each iteration, her analysis of the scene became so obscure that she was left feeling more frustrated than ever.

She wished she could just forget about it all.

 **x - x - x**

"So after yesterday's encounter, I've decided that I need to learn how to defend myself," Kyanna proclaimed during lunch.

Suzie stared at her like she was speaking another language. She had listened with interest as Kyanna shyly explained in detail what had happened yesterday while walking home from school. She thought it was "absolutely romantic, just like in the movies", but Kyanna had given her a frown and merely retorted with, "Do guys in the movies suddenly become cold and tells the girl he never wants to see her again?"

"For plot development, yeah," Suzie claimed.

"Our lives don't have a plot."

"I'm aware."

"Good. Then we can stop trying to create unnecessary drama in it."

Suzie had known her best friend long enough to realize that she had a darker side to her. She wasn't always sunshine, rainbows or the perfect little angel that she appeared to be. Yes, Kyanna was very optimistic and kind-hearted, but when that darker side was unveiled, it was like she was a different person.

Or maybe she was still Kyanna.

Nevertheless, Suzie knew well enough to steer clear of her friend when she felt those vibes shifting. She often wondered if the tragedy with Kyanna's mother was what first ignited that other side of Kyanna.

But then again, maybe it was always there.

Suzie picked up a raspberry from her small glass container and popped it in her mouth as she reviewed Kyanna's decision. Her friend may have been over doing it when she suddenly blurted out that she wanted to learn how to defend herself after experiencing just one bad encounter. But then again, Suzie herself had taken up tessenjutsu for the very same reason, so she couldn't blame Kyanna.

"Hmm self-defense. You mean like some sort of martial arts class?" she asked.

Kyanna nodded. "I'm thinking something that will work best with my body type, like Tai Chi. It's elegant yet powerful enough so I can protect myself. I don't want to end up in a dark alley stalked by older guys again. And also, I think the exercises could help myself in general, you know, dealing with my past."

"I see," the short haired brunette replied with a pensive look. Of course. Suzie wasn't surprised that Kyanna mentioned how the martial art could help her find her level of balance again. Her friend often related conversation back to her mother's death when appropriate, and Suzie was more than understanding about her traumatic experience. But at the same time, she worried that Kyanna would probably never find closure. If Tai Chi was something that could help her find that balance, it was worth trying.

"Have you looked into it yet?" Suzie asked.

"Not yet. I want a master who is professional and inexpensive, since our family doesn't have much money to be spending on lessons." Kyanna brushed back her long, dark brown hair to prevent loose strands of hair from falling onto her empty food tray. She eyed Suzie's container of raspberries.

"Don't worry. I'll help you find the best one!" Suzie smiled, holding out the raspberries in front of her friend so she could help herself with the fruit. Kyanna merrily reached for the light snack, and as she did, Suzie noticed a bandage around her friend's pinky.

"What happened to your finger?" she inquired.

Kyanna glanced over at her brown skin. "You know when you get those random cuts or bruises and have no idea where they're from? Yeah, that's what happened."

"That's the worst!" Suki exclaimed. "I found a small cut on my finger the other day too! Probably from when I was folding origami, but I didn't notice it at all until it randomly started hurting. Strange, isn't it?"

Just as the two friends finished the berries, the bell rang signaling the end of the 6th grade lunch period and the start of the 7th grade lunch period. The girls cleaned their table, grabbed their backpacks and headed toward their next class together just like they did every day of school.

As the girls passed the doors to the cafeteria, they heard an obnoxiously gleeful laugh.

"Shaun," they said in unison with an unfazed voice. Of course he would be one of the first people to enter the cafeteria. Right on schedule, Shaun appeared with a group of friends around him. When he saw his sister, he dispersed the group, reassuring them that he'd meet up with them at their lunch table.

"Kya! Hey Kya!" the 7th grader called out, running up to his sister. "How are you feeling?"

His sister gave him a strange look. "I'm… fine? Why? What happened?" she answered hesitantly.

"Nothing," Shaun shrugged. "Just checking up on my little sister." He winked and held two thumbs up. He was such a happy dork.

Kyanna let out a sharp exhale. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Yeah, I forgot to do that yesterday and look what happened!"

If Shaun was trying to make up for not waiting for her after school, he was trying a little too hard. Although now that Suzie thought about it, she had also ditched Kyanna to walk home with Shaun and watch some Earth Rumble 6. It wasn't intended to be rude; she had just gotten caught up with the thought of being alone with him for once.

Kyanna patted his arm affectionately. "Look. It's fine. I'm okay and you're a nice brother, okay? I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday," she said rather quickly with a hint of annoyance.

Shaun's eyes grew large and then he wrapped his arms around his sister tightly. "You are…" he started, his voice cracking into his high register that squeaked out when he was over excited, "…the nicest sister ever!"

"Easy there, brother," Kyanna remarked, trying to push him off of her. He let go and faced her with a heartwarming smile.

"Actually, can I talk with Suzie for a moment?" he said out of the blue.

"Uhh, sure."

Suzie happily allowed Shaun to lead her away from the crowd and she waved a hand over her shoulder. "I'll meet you in study hall!"

Kyanna smile and left the two to their own personal time together. She wondered what they were discussing but knew that it was something personal between the two of them. Maybe Shaun had an interest in Suzie as well, although he rarely showed any hints of being interested in her. Nevertheless, asking to be alone with Suzie would make her incredibly happy. A faint smile lingered at the thought of her best friend and older brother being together. They were still so young but… it was still nice to think about wanting the best for the people closest to her.

If only she could have something like that…

Before she knew it, she was thinking about _him_ again.

 _No! Stop it!_ she cried internally and rushed to her study hall class.

 **x - x – x**

Y equals x. Z is something about a flagpole that's 56 feet tall and a guy is standing in front of the flagpole casting a shadow that's blah blah blah.

Kyanna doodled on her math homework with an elbow propped up to hold up her heavy head. Math sucked. Usually it was easy… when she wasn't distracted.

Math… Her current word problem that she was working on right now…. It reminded her of the "math test" she had brought up with him yesterday. Math was stupid. That math test was stupid. _He said that the math test was stupid._

"That's incorrect," came a light voice. Kyanna slowly shifted her head to find Suzie peering over her shoulder. She nearly fell off her chair at Suzie's appearance. Boy, she really was antsy today.

"I know! I'm just… trying to focus right now," Kyanna recovered but then looked down at her paper to see that while drawing out the word problem with the guy and the flagpole, she had subconsciously drawn in facial features and shaded in dark hair that was obviously supposed to be the guy from yesterday. She quickly covered up the drawing, but Suzie had already seen more than enough.

"But you can't focus because you're thinking about _him_ aren't you?" she said smugly.

Kyanna blushed furiously. "Shouldn't you be doing homework?"

"I finished. Want some help with yours?"

"Ugh, no. I got this…" Kyanna clunked her head against the desk, making no effort to lift her head back up.

Her friend raised an eyebrow. "Clearly."

The poor girl was overthinking all of this. The last time Suzie had seen Kyanna this distressed was after the traumatic incident three years ago, and she didn't think anything could match up to that level of imbalance again. But they were growing preteens. It was their known time for uncontrollable outbreaks and emotions. If only there was a way to cheer Kyanna up somehow.

Suzie eyed the classroom full of students. Some actually worked on assignments, others talked to their nearby classmates, and a few were even sleeping. What a productive class indeed. She then saw how the door was left wide open and how easily it would be to sneak out unnoticed. The teacher was seated near a student in the back of the room, helping out with homework, and they appeared heavily focused on the work. She and Kyanna could slip out and back in without getting caught- easy.

"Hey, wanna take a break?" Suzie said in a low voice, trying to contain her excitement.

"Isn't this class already nap time?" Kyanna mumbled, her head still against the desk.

Suzie leaned in closer. "I meant, let's ditch class and search for your boy!"

That caught her attention as she immediately sat up, but then kept silent for a few seconds, adjusting her posture when she realized how she reacted with a little too much enthusiasm. "Well… that does sound like a better option than trying to do homework."

"Of course it is. Now come on! While the teacher's still distracted!"

The two girls knelt down so they were at desk height and silently crept out of the classroom with ease. By the way they moved, it looked like they were ninjas in training- a bit clumsy with the footwork but they got the job done. Kyanna hoped that with some Tai Chi lessons, she would become even more agile with her body.

A few seconds later the girls easily traversed the empty hallways until they reached the first classroom at the end of the hallway.

"Okay! The 7th graders are at lunch so that should help our search! So, what does he look like again?" Suzie questioned.

"Uh…" Kyanna blanked out, not entirely sure how to describe his looks. What were his distinguishing feature? "Tall, black hair and light skin?"

Suzie sent her a confused look with her lips slightly apart as if awaiting more details.

"You saw my drawing in class!" Kyanna remarked, knowing that it wouldn't provide any further help.

"…You know what? You search for him and I'll keep lookout."

It was a plan.

They moved from classroom to classroom with Kyanna peeping into the glass if the door was shut and cautiously peeking into the room if the door was left open. Meanwhile, Suzie kept a protective watch at her surroundings, feeling for her hidden fan in case anything unexpected happened. Thankfully, only a few teachers were wandering the halls at this time and the two girls were able to maneuver around without worry. They were also wary of the security cameras placed in certain locations of the building. Where they were heading, there were none.

"See him yet?" Suzie whispered.

The dark haired girl lifted her head frantically in various directions to examine the classroom in front of them. "No. I don't see anyone who looks like him! How many classrooms have we checked?"

"I don't know, a lot!" Suzie glanced at the clock instilled in the hallway. "Class is almost over. We need to get back soon."

"I know!" Kyanna let out an irritated groan. "Where is that stupid boy?! One more classroom and then we head back."

They approached their last classroom for the time being. The door was closed for this room and that made Kyanna want to bust the door open. The rooms with closed doors were the ones that were impossible to get a good view of the students.

"Anything?" Suzie tried again.

"Mmm… oh!"

"Did you find him?!" the brunette turned around at the sound of the first new reaction they'd gotten during their search. The impatient girls squeezed closer to the glass, trying to locate a student with short black hair.

"I don't know! I can't get a proper view!" Kyanna inspected the student that matched her description, but when he turned his face around to talk to his friend, Kyanna sank back down. "No, that's not him."

Suzie released a disappointed scowl as well. They had probably checked over ten classrooms! Where in the world was the guy? How had he managed to avoid them the entire day? Maybe he was absent today. That could explain it. Or maybe…

"What are you little pests doing?"

Oh-no. Suzie turned away for one second and they were already caught? Wait… pests? No teacher would refer to students like that, and with that cold, arrogant tone of voice…

"Asandra!" Suzie stammered as she and Kyanna finally faced the person who caught them. The Demon Princess stood over them with a mighty stance, her facial expression tight and focused and her arms crossed in a way that would have been mistaken for a teacher if they encountered her from a distance. "Hey…! We were just… heading back to class."

"That's a pathetic lie. You two were looking for someone weren't you?"

The way the girls turned to look at each in sync was more than enough proof for Asandra.

"I thought so. Well, since I'm feeling _so considerate_ today, I might just be able to help you find whoever this person is. I happen to know _a lot_ of people in this school."

After a short moment of considering their options, Suzie nudged Kyanna, tilting her head in Asandra's direction. Kyanna closed her eyes in defeat, knowing that Suzie was right. As horrible as the Demon Princess was, she was probably the only person who would have information about something as vague as this. The two girls rose to their feet, relaxing their posture.

"Fine, but don't get any funny ideas," Kyanna started while narrowing her eyes. "All I know is that he's tall, has black hair and light skin."

Asandra rolled her eyes as if it was second nature to her. "Well if that's all he is, it sounds like you're looking for my brother."

Kyanna's eyes widened. She truly was in a constant state of surprise today. " _You_ sent him a video of the hamtaro theme song?"

The girl threw back her head to let out a satisfied laugh. "I did. Wow, you're more obsessed with him than I thought."

"I-I am not! He's a jerk!"

"Yeah, you're right about that. Then it's a good thing you'll never see him again. Now, I believe I must be heading back to class." She waved a hand in the air carelessly and took a step towards the classroom door in front of them.

"Wait, why won't we ever see him again?" Kyanna blurted, making Asandra stop in her tracks and turn her head back to stare at the dark skinned girl amusingly.

"You're awfully curious for someone who's not interested in him."

"He said the same thing to me yesterday before we separated- that we wouldn't see each other again. I just want to know if he's okay."

Asandra's face tightened once again. "Look, just forget about him. He's nothing special," she spat.

In a split second, Suzie took a skillful step toward Asandra, drawing out her folded fan and pointing it to her opponent's chin. The sudden action caught Kyanna off guard but not Asandra as her head had already slightly retracted and her middle and pointer fingers were held up together like a two finger wave. Those two fingers were enough to have already pushed the folded fan slightly off the side so it wasn't directed at her center.

Despite Suzie's failed surprise attack, she didn't fall back. Within the next moment, she shifted forward and repositioned her arm so that the back end of the fan now pressed against Asandra's chest. "Answer her question. Now."

The Demon Princess emitted an unconcerned look before finally replying back. "Daddy took care of him." Her lips curled into a smirk. "That's all you're gonna get out of me."

That answer alone was all it took for Kyanna to put two and two together as she recalled the guy mentioning how upset his father was at him yesterday. Her face darkened. "Where is he?"

Her voice was unnaturally calm and soft but there was cold determination in the way she spoke. Suzie, noticing the change in her friend's demeanor, let her own offensive stance fall loose. Asandra pressed her lips tighter at Kyanna's reaction, the corners of her mouth trailing higher. She shrugged innocently.

"He's your brother! Don't you care about him?"

"No, not really," Asandra gave a loud, joyful sigh. "Well, I've told you more than enough, so-"

"Oh no you don't. We're not done here!"

Suzie returned to her strong body guarding position while Kyanna prowled in closer to trap the Demon Princess. As if Asandra had had enough of Kyanna's stubbornness, she shifted her head toward the closed door. "Ms. Kwan!" she called out.

Kyanna and Suzie shared a look of distress and frantically pattered away from the classroom door.

"Let's go!" Suzie whispered harshly.

"Wait, can you at least tell me his name?" Kyanna tried again.

With a mischievous grin still branded on her face, the Princess replied, "You should have done that when you had the chance."

"Fine! I'll figure it out myself!" Before the determined girl left the area, she gave Asandra the dirtiest look she had ever given to anyone.

Kyanna and Suzie slipped back into their classroom unnoticed. Luckily they made it five minutes before the dismissal bell rang for fifth period, but their scrambling to make it back, especially after an encounter with Asandra, had used up more energy than they expected. Both girls plopped into their seats, catching their breath.

The light-haired brunette tucked away her fan snugly into the sleeve of her shirt. "Well… it's a start."

Her friend was right. It _was_ a start, but Kyanna was preoccupied with another dreadful thought. With her arms out firmly in front of her, she stared down at her math homework, her eyes glued to the drawing she made at the start of class.

"What's wrong?" Suzie asked gently.

"He mentioned how upset his dad was at him yesterday. I can't help but think that he may be seriously hurt."

Suzie placed a comforting hand on Kyanna's arm, just as her best friend had done for her the day before. "You've got to keep your hopes up, Kyanna. It's not like he'll be gone forever, right? He'll be back, as long as his sister is still here."

Kyanna took a long blink and nodded. "You're right. Thanks, Suzie."

But even after hearing such comforting words of hope, Kyanna couldn't help but return her eyes to her rushed drawing of the boy. The soft lead on the paper had smeared, probably from when she was previously trying to cover up the picture, and Kyanna had to fight off her overwhelming emotions as she finally turned her gaze away from the boy's face now shaded in gray.

 **x - x – x**

"Gran! I'm home!" Kyanna stepped through the front door, placing bags of groceries on the kitchen floor. On her way home from school, she and Suzie had stopped by the store to pick up some groceries her grandmother had written on a list and given to her that morning.

The elderly woman stood in front of the stove, preparing a large pot of soup for their dinner. "Welcome home, Kyanna. Were you able to buy everything on that list I gave you?"

"Yep. It's all here." She unwrapped all the groceries from the bags and placed them in their designated place in the kitchen. Then she proceeded to chop some washed vegetables while she and her grandma conversed about how their day went. Of course, Kyanna left out the part about ditching study period and how she and Suzie were on a boy hunt all day. She didn't want to involve an adult in her situation. It would only make the situation more real.

Finally as Kyanna finished cutting up the last carrot, her grandmother turned her small, plump body toward the counter Kyanna was at. "Do you have a lot of homework to do? I can finish making dinner," the grandmother offered with a warm smile.

Kyanna was aware that her grandmother's words were more than a suggestion; it was an order, and she was more than grateful to comply. "Sure. Thanks Gran. I'll help clean up after dinner."

She grabbed her backpack and a remaining grocery bag before rushing to her room. Although it was smart to start working on homework, Kyanna didn't feel the desire to. What kind of student immediately worked on homework when they just got home from school? An overachiever. Honestly, how could someone be that passionate about school? Kyanna wasn't aiming to be valedictorian of a middle school. And besides, she still had a boy to find.

Grabbing the purchased item from the plastic bag, Kyanna ran over to her brother's room. She knocked on the door and placed her arms behind her back innocently. A few seconds later, Shaun opened the door just wide enough to peek his head out, and he frowned when he saw her.

"Boy troubles already?"

Kyanna tugged on a thick strand of her hair, diverting her eyes. "Not…really?"

"Oh no," Shaun shoulders drooped. "Look, Kyanna, you should just wait until you're older. You're still way too young."

"But you're only a year older than me! Well- two years older now! Besides, I just have a few questions, not about boys but about _a boy_."

"I don't know…"

"I brought you some jerky." Kyanna whipped out the package of jerky from behind her back causing Shaun to raise an eyebrow in consideration.

"Teriyaki?"

"Family pack."

"Fine." Shaun snatched the bag of beef jerky and opened the door wider to let Kyanna in. She immediately scrunched her nose when she entered.

"Ew! Shaun! How many times have I told you to put all your dirty clothes in their own pile in the laundry basket?" she exclaimed, stepping around his mess of clothes.

Her brother merely shrugged, taking a seat on his office chair and spinning it around to face Kyanna. "It makes it there by laundry day."

"But your room stinks because of it!" Sure it smelled like cologne as well, but mix that with a week load of dirty clothes and leftover food and suddenly you get this try-hard, sour, boy sweat smell.

"You're free to leave if you don't like it," Shaun said ripping open the bag of teriyaki beef jerky.

"Ugh!" With every step Kyanna took, she made a different look of disgust. Shaun watch in amusement, chewing on his jerky like it was popcorn for a movie night. Finally she jumped onto his bed making herself comfortable. "Will you please just _try_ to pick it up?"

"Maybe. So who's the guy?"

Here it was. After this, she would be another step deeper into being involved with him. Kyanna took a deep breath. "See that's the thing. I don't know who the guy is."

Shaun threw up a hand out as if to announce the obvious to the world. "My sister is crushing on a random guy."

"No! I know it sounds like that but… he goes to Sozin Middle School, but he's in the 8th grade! I thought maybe you'd have a better idea since, well, you're pretty popular in your grade."

"Yeah, the 7th grade. Not 8th."

"You must have heard something!" Kyanna protested, feeling a tinge of embarrassment knowing how desperate she sounded right now.

"And you want me to help you find him," he completed and then crossed his arms with the bag of jerky still in his hands. "I'll just tell you right now that I do not approve of this. If dad was here, he'd tell you the same thing."

Kyanna wanted to throw Shaun's own dirty sock in his face at the mention of their father. Instead, she found that the words defending the boy spilled out of her mouth before she could even comprehend what she was doing.

"Look, he's a nice person. He helped me out yesterday when I was being followed by those two older men. And then today I ran into his sister who's in the same grade as me. Guess who the sister is! Asandra! Demon Princess! Can you believe that? But she wouldn't tell me anything about him, just that their dad 'took care of him' but yesterday the guy also mentioned that his dad was mad at him and that we wouldn't see each other again in school. Suzie and I looked even for him all day but we couldn't find him anywhere! I just want to make sure he's all right and-"

"Stop." Shaun held out the palm of his hand as a physical gesture to break Kyanna out of her rambling. "Okay, I'll help you out," he said in defeat but then muttered to himself. "Since you're so obsessed with him."

Kyanna's eyes lit up, ignoring his little comment. "Thank you!"

"But I don't know how much help I can provide. I don't get involved with Demon Princess that much. I've never even heard her mentioning a brother. I would try your luck with asking the 8th graders." He reached into his precious bag to pull out another strip of jerky.

"That means waiting another day!" Kyanna sulked.

"Oh-no! An entire night of waiting!" Shaun remarked sarcastically, leaning back in his chair and taking a bite into his jerky. "Hmm, if only we had our yearbooks already, we'd be able to find his name."

Shaun had a good point. But it was also another futile idea. The students didn't receive their yearbooks until the last week of school, and that was more than a month away. There was also no use looking through their elementary yearbooks. As far as Kyanna could remember, she had never even seen Asandra during grade school, so it was possible that the girl and her brother had attended a different elementary school within the area. But then, another idea came into mind.

"Wait, don't you have last year's yearbook? He would still be in the 7th grade!"

Shaun swallowed the piece of jerky in his mouth, then scanned his bedroom. "Yeah, you'll have to clean my room if you want to try finding it." He looked up the ceiling, resting the piece of meat in his mouth. "If I haven't already thrown it out."

"Shaun!" Kyanna shouted, sweeping her eyes at his cluttered floor. Maybe asking him to help would prove to be useless after all.

"You could search for him online- Facebook and stuff," he said casually.

"…I don't have a Facebook."

"Well then make one!" His voice squeaked in his high register again, meaning he was starting to get annoyed. The teenager spun around in his chair, facing his desk where his computer sat.

Kyanna teetered nervously on his bed. She knew she was making this harder than it should have been. "Can you search him on your account? Try looking up Agni!"

Shaun sighed. "Fine."

Time for some intense major stalking.

Kyanna leaned in closer to his monitor as he opened up Facebook. He was already logged into his account and immediately went to the search bar where he typed in "Agni". Asandra's name was the first to show up on the list, and then there were other names whom the siblings didn't recognize. They figured Asandra's profile page would have been the best place to start. Shaun clicked on her name, leading him to the Demon Princess's personal page, which looked just as menacing as she did with the dark theme layout. He clicked on the "About" tab where an excessive amount of information was provided. Ignoring the huge block of scary text, he moved on to the Family and Relationships tab on the left side.

Nothing.

"Maybe he doesn't have a Facebook," Kyanna suggested with a sound of disappointment.

"No, no," Shaun retorted. "Everyone has a Facebook. Except you because you're weird."

"Hmph!" Kyanna grouched and picked up the shirt she had been standing on. With a single swoop, she grabbed a handful of his other clothes and stumbled off to find the laundry basket. She found it upside down hiding underneath a large sweatshirt. What else was she expecting from her newly turned thirteen year old brother? With his age, he had become an official teenager. Kyanna flipped the basket, holding it at her side and shoved the clothes into it with force. Every once in a while she turned her attention back to the computer screen to check on Shaun's progress.

Shaun scrunched his face as he searched through Asandra's photos. They were all selfies. Not helpful. He then began to check through Asandra's friend list, which could have been the entire city as the list streamed on forever. He caught sight of Mae's name and clicked it. Her profile was practically blank except for a bunch of posts that she was tagged in by Teri. Mae didn't even have a profile picture. It was left on the defaulted silhouette of a person. Finding no useful information on Mae's page, he clicked on Teri's name and scrolled down her timeline. The girl was the definition of happy-go-lucky. There were status posts updated every couple hours about what happened in their life as well as an abundant amount of selfies with "inspirational quotes" written in the description. Kyanna saw the page and wanted to gag. Did other people really care about stuff like that? With a shake of her head, she picked up another piece of clothing in front of her and shoved it into the basket.

Shaun decided to trust Teri's Facebook page. The girl was basically scrapbooking every moment of her life, and being best friends with the Demon Princess who was related to the guy Kyanna was interested in, there was bound to be _something_. After fifteen long minutes of scrolling through hell, that _something_ caught Shaun's eye. It was a particular post made a couple months ago.

 _The Jasmine Dragon serves the best tea! Thanks Ivan!  
#Alerissa #ZanetanIsAPartyPooper #BFFS #JustGotOurFortunesTold #TeaParty #BestDayEver _

Included with the post was a group photo of the interior of what Shaun assumed to be the Jasmine Dragon. An old man smiled widely in the background holding a teapot while Teri, Mae and Asandra posed for the camera in which Teri was holding. There were tons of customers in the background; but the teenager noticed there was also another person in the picture fighting against Asandra's arms. Shaun concluded the person to be a guy from his short black hair but one hand held out in front of his face, covering everything except for an eye that peeked out from behind his fingers. The guy must have been camera shy.

 _Zanetan._ Shaun's eyes widened as he read through the ridiculous tags. He quickly typed the name in the search bar. There were no results. Flustered, he opened up a new tab to a search engine, typing in the guy's name once more.

No social website links.

The teenager took a glimpse back to see that his sister had occupied herself in picking up his dirty laundry. It didn't even look like she was paying much attention anymore. She was probably trying to calm her thoughts by taking on another task to busy her mind. The girl always had to be doing something. She couldn't sit still for a second. At this point Shaun could have stopped his search. He could have told her that it wasn't worth all the trouble. But as annoying as Kyanna was sometimes, she was still family- the person he grew up with. He would do this for her.

Refocusing his attention, Shaun returned to the photo, rereading the status and typed in Ivan Agni in the search bar. A profile picture showed the same old man who was in Teri's photo. At this, Shaun clicked on the man's name, immediately going to his family and relationship tab. There listed in his family section: Zanetan Agni – Nephew.

He clicked on the accessible name only to fall back onto his chair when he saw the page he was directed to. The chair squeaked, catching Kyanna's attention and she rushed over to the desk, dropping the full basket of clothes.

"Zanetan Agni is the only name that's shown up within the family, but the account is deactivated," Shaun explained.

"What?!" Kyanna screeched. "Did he jump off the face of the earth?"

"Yeah probably." He rested both of his hands behind his head. "But look, now you have a name you can scribble all over your diary and notebooks. Can I do my homework now?"

Kyanna glared down at him, placing her hands on her hips. She had put up with his constant teasing all day. And after searching for the guy, stalking him down, their bonding moment (not really), he still had the nerve to continue teasing her? He was really starting to get annoying now. "You know, I was going to say thank you, but I don't think you deserve it anymore."

"That's okay." The teenager reached his hand in the snack bag to grab another piece of meat. "Hey, thanks for the jerky by the way." He tore a bite into the meat while closing the internet tabs. Almost immediately, he opened a new tab.

Kyanna huffed. Her brother was impossible to live with sometimes- all that teasing before and now he was trying to guilt trip her into thanking him? She wouldn't give into him that easily. With a scoff, she marched back to the door, throwing the remainders of his clothes into the overflowing laundry basket. "Make sure I don't see this again."

Shaun didn't turn around from his seat. "Okay, _mom_."

 **x - x – x**

She did end up writing his name all over her diary and notebooks. Discovering his name was another point of progress. Another detail. Another step closer to finding him. Kyanna was convinced she would have constant headaches with all the thinking she did of him. She interlaced her fingers together as she lay in bed. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.

...

The next day at school, Kyanna rammed into the lockers next to Suzie, making the brunette yelp in surprise.

"I got a name." Kyanna's smile had never looked more excited.

Suzie mirrored the expression. "Spill."

"Zanetan Agni," she whispered. Her friend's jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh! How did you figure it out?"

"Shaun's actually a smart guy. But you know what we have to do now?" Suzie kept her focus on Kyanna, and when she didn't answer, Kyanna took the cue to continued. "We have to ask the 8th graders what they know about him."

"Got it," Suzie remarked but then her face fell slightly. "But 8th graders are a little scary, don't you think?"

"Yeah…" Kyanna replied back uneasily. "But I need to know where he is and what happened to him."

"Kyanna…" the brunette started slowly, but then shook her head when she saw the gleam of hope sparkling in her best friend's eyes. "Okay, let's do this."

The two girls asked around at every opportunity they could. Talking with 8th graders was nothing Kyanna couldn't handle. It was just intimidating when they all appeared taller and older than she was. Even though Zanetan was an 8th grader, he wasn't nearly as frightening to approach as some of the other 8th graders were. She wondered if that proved anything. Like perhaps if they were meant to be together. She internally squealed at the thought.

The search proved to be most helpful during the 8th grade lunch period where Kyanna and Suzie skipped their classes to fortunately speak with the students in one place. However, it turned out that Zanetan was a pretty reserved person who didn't really hang out with anyone. Some people only knew him because they were in the same class. Even the people that did consider him a friend said that Zanetan didn't talk much about himself. Then there were some girls who confessed that they thought he was extremely hot, but the guy wouldn't give them any attention. But that didn't matter to the girls because he was still good looking.

With each inquisition, Kyanna was questioned why she was asking about the guy. She was expecting that, as well as an awful lot of teasing, but kept herself grounded and vague otherwise she would never be taken seriously. After tedious prying, she was able to gain some information, but nothing that told about what happened to him.

As far as the 8th graders knew, Zanetan was just another teenager living the same middle school life. No one knew where he was or why he was absent from school. Some assumed he was sick or got in an accident, but the way they stated it was too informal. It didn't make sense that Asandra was flaunted as being the most popular girl and the daughter of a wealthy businessman while Zanetan was unknown and without any background. The students claimed that Zanetan never made mention of a sister and funnily enough, Asandra rarely acknowledged the existence of her own brother, only doing so when she wanted to make fun of him. It was like she was ashamed to be related to him. Kyanna hoped that his dad didn't think that way of him either.

But her mind knew better than that.

After the 8th grade lunch bell rang, Kyanna headed back to her locker, prepared to sit in her next class pondering all the information she had gathered in her notebook. As she pulled out a textbook, she felt a heated breeze to her left and nearly dropped the heavy book when she saw the Demon Princess leaning against the lockers next to her.

"I hear you've been asking around about my brother." It wasn't a question, and Kyanna knew she had to choose her next words carefully.

"Yeah, and?" she replied back coldly.

"I'd really rather you didn't invest your time in our family's personal matters," Asandra blatantly stated while examining her long fingernails.

"I'm just looking out for my friend," Kyanna said firmly.

The Demon Princess scoffed. "Yesterday you call him a jerk, now you say he's a friend? Please, you barely know the guy. You two are hardly friends."

Kyanna shut her locker without another word. It was no use trying to explain herself to Asandra. Even if she did, Asandra wouldn't listen, and that would just be a waste of breath on her end. No, she needed to stand her ground and fight for what she believed was right. Kyanna started to walk in the opposite direction but was interrupted again by the Demon Princess's sharp voice.

"Besides, how do you know he even cares about you? He didn't even care to ever see you again. And trust me, I know my brother better than anyone else here. You think this is rude of him to just suddenly leave? You should hear of all the other horrid things he's done. There's nothing you can do for him."

Kyanna had to hand it to her, she really knew how to push someone's buttons. But Kyanna wouldn't give up until the end. She couldn't save her mother back then. She was right there yet she didn't do anything- couldn't do anything due to shock. She had just stood there on the side and watched it all unfold in front of her, like she had been rewarded front row movie seats and could do nothing but stare at the screen.

The days that followed after…

The years that followed after…

The repeated words that haunted her and changed her mentality…

 _I could have done something…_

Then maybe things would have turned out differently.

Kyanna made a promise to herself one night after coming to realize that weakness. She would never, ever turn her back on people who needed her. With a bold face, Kyanna strode up to Asandra staring straight into her eyes. They reminded her of _his_ eyes, but carried a different aura, a different shade of colour, something that spoke her name rather than his.

 _Everything will definitely be alright…_

Instead of yelling at her, Kyanna spoke with a heart of determination. "You can't stop me, Asandra. _Zanetan_ helped me out. He might have even saved my life from two dangerous men. He didn't have to, but he did. And if a guy like that can sacrifice himself for me, maybe he's not all that bad. Now it's my turn to save him."

Kyanna saw how Asandra's eyes widened when she spoke his name and she knew she had done the job right. Without waiting for Asandra's reply, she turned around walked through the sea of students.

For the second time that week, Asandra was the one left standing behind. Her face scrunched together tightly. She absolutely despised how the little girl thought she was so tough that so she could stand her ground against _her_ \- the Demon Princess. Asandra clenched her fists in frustration. She had been too soft on the little peasant. Next time, she wouldn't let her get away so easily.

"I warned you." Asandra turned the other way, keeping her golden eyes focused on what lay in front of her.

 **x - x – x**

There he was. The person the little girl was obsessed with. The person she was ashamed to call her brother. He was nothing but a weakling. Even father saw him as one. And if father said so, then it had to be true. Everything father worked for led him to great results. If that was the case, he was obviously doing something right, and could therefore be seen as a powerful person.

Asandra loved how she held that in her genes.

She remained silent leaning against the opening of the doorway as she watched her brother packing the last of his belongings into a suitcase. His front side was facing her in the candlelit room. The open window behind him provided a faint amount of sunlight with the sun beginning to set. The left side of his face was heavily bandaged, a majority of his hair singed off. Asandra could still smell the scent of burning smoke from yesterday's incident. She was there when it happened and an evil smile lurked upon her face as she recalled the memory.

There was no doubt that she had the upper hand. Now there was no way her brother would ever stand in her way or bring humiliation to their family's name. Her smile widened with cruel intentions.

"There's a girl at school who is very persistent with finding out where you've disappeared to," she said articulating every word.

"Why are you here?" the teenager replied coldly.

"Zuzu, I thought you'd be glad to know that at least one person still cares for you."

"I don't care," he lashed out but Asandra continued on as if he didn't say anything.

"She was sooo grateful that you saved her life and was intent on doing the same for you." She turned her head to the side slightly. "The little drama queen," she grumbled and then straightened up to take a step forward. "Her poor little heart's going to be crushed when she finds out that the boy who came to her rescue is no longer the same pretty boy she met days ago."

His eyes closed. "Leave."

"You know who I'm talking about," Asandra taunted, her voice growing softer but raising with distaste as the words left her mouth. "The girl with the K necklace-"

"I SAID LEAVE!"

Before she knew it, the door was slammed in front of her face and she inadvertently stepped back, and just in time too. Had she been a second later, her face would have bruised by the impact of the door. But Asandra was perfect. She believed she was. Her cold smile returned at her success.

"I'll be sure to tell her how much you don't care!" she yelled and much louder than she had expected.

As she was about to walk back to her room, a large figure obstructed her path, forcing her to stop. The hallway was dim, so she had to allow her eyes to adjust to just the candlelight. It was her uncle.

"Are you that bored with your life?" he asked gently, but Asandra could hear the fury in his voice.

"You're in my way," Asandra spoke in a pretentious manner.

"Why would you provoke your only brother like that and then threaten a kind and naturally concerned girl with lies?"

The Demon Princess crossed her arms, talking back like she was speaking to a kindergartner. "Uncle, she's going to have her heart broken either way. I'm helping her get over the silly crush by telling her the truth."

"Then that's something that needs to be taken care of by Zanetan and the girl, not you."

"That will never happen if you leave it up to the girl," she stated arguably. "Someone's got to tell it to her straight so she can move on with her life."

The uncle raised a suspicious eye at her last words, pausing before he finally replied back. "Well then, pardon my interruption. I did not expect you to be so thoughtful." He spoke back with the same tone Asandra had given him, but Asandra knew she had won that round, so she let it slip pass.

"Yeah, well that's what a Princess does for her people. Speaking of which, I've got a lot of other work to finish." She adamantly pressed forward, her uncle moving around her to let her pass. The candlelight flickered in the long hallways as she walked, acknowledging her presence. The warm flames were shaped like raindrops, captured and cursed to remain on their designated wick melted onto the wax tower. Maybe that's what fire was. Cursed raindrops. Fire can rain from the skies. And water can wash over like wild fire. No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.

 **x - x – x**

The uncle cautiously opened the door, entering a dark room where his nephew resided. It was a partially empty room, lacking any warmth that one could call home. He noticed that the window was left open and the light curtain danced with the gentle wind that blew into the room. In the center of the room was his nephew. The uncle took a step forward.

"You helped out a girl? That's very unlike you Zanetan."

Zanetan didn't make eye contact. "I was doing it for myself. There were two agents behind her and I didn't want to get involved in a fight or be taken by them. Looking back though, that would have been better than _this_."

The older man glanced at Zanetan's bandaged face and then released a heartfelt smile. "What you did was a very brave and generous act. It might not mean anything to you, but it must have meant everything to the girl. And I know you might have thought you were doing it for yourself, but I'm sure a part of you felt that at that moment, it was your duty to protect the girl."

"That was a mistake."

"Zanetan…"

"Can everyone just forget about it?! It's not a big deal!"

The uncle exhaled, closing his eyes in the darkness. The raindrops rekindled their spark within his eyes but he continued to shut them tightly as he walked out of the bedroom. "All right, dear nephew. It's time to go."


	4. Chapter 3

_Hello everyone! So does anyone else read stories by Fafoo (Sugaru Miaki)? I'm very inspired by his works and ideas, and you'll see that influence come through with this story. He beautifully verbalizes the things we subconsciously know but never say aloud, especially from an introvert's more cynical perspective. His observations makes you think, "Hey, I've noticed that too," or "I've felt that way before as well. Glad to know I'm not the only one." In a way, it's like his main character (narrating in first person) is talking and thinking thoughts to himself; but that same narration also feels like the author is personally and indirectly speaking to his audience (like second person). In other words, when I write this story to share my ideas and interpretations, I'm also writing in regard to you readers. I love the abstract, ambiguous nature of it all. Also! I was able to relocate the one picture that inspired me to write the prologue of this story. The artwork is featured on the cover page of this story and the link to the full image is provided on my profile page! Thanks Eira1893 for your beautiful art!_

 _So far I've only being using characters that were introduced in the original series (with more or less character development). So every character that has a name here was once mentioned in the show! And I plan to keep it that way unless something comes up. Just a reminder that I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story! Feel free to ask any questions if you have any as well! Or if you just want to talk about A:TLA. I'll reply back with an appropriate answer! *Throws sea prunes* Thanks for reading everyone!_

 _~Roze_

* * *

\- Chapter 3 -

 _Do you breathe the name of your savior in your hour of need  
And taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed,  
Of implication, insinuation and ill will, 'til you cannot lie still  
In all this turmoil, before red cape and foil come closing in for a kill_

 _~ Carnival of Rust (Poets of the Fall)_

The darkness welcomes travelers.

Greets them with a kiss of paralysis.

In the dead of night… whispers of hope float with the wind's currents, so light like the feathered seeds of an icy white dandelion.

Wishes are awakened, intertwining with each other. Silk ribbons are tangled. Screams are muted.

Sketched in messy black ink. The letters hurriedly scratch onto an unknown surface- onto the coffee stained canvas placed in front of her eyes.

Glitch. _Static._

Retrace the sharp lines. Retrace the curves.

Once.

Twice.

Three times…

Zoom in.

 **Z**

Blur. Pan out.

A full view of his name.

"-save you from the p…"

Abnormally warm hands wrap around her h-

-the mark of the b-

….

As the moon illuminates the small room through the open window…

"Ow!" Crashing to the floor.

Just one synchronized glance.

The gateways to the heart. Interlock.

A genuine and heartwarming smile is exchanged.

"…during the middle of the night to give me flowers?"

 _Fog emerges._

"-alive in this world-"

...

"-enough to keep me ha-"

Trapped inside the breath of a lifetime.

…

 _It's merging._

I'll see you one last time.

Raindrops paint my heartbeat. Brings me life.

Brings me to life.

…

"I promise."

What will it take?

Pain transcends her entity.

 _Your_ _ **soul**_ _needs to be_ _ **screaming**_ _._

…

"I'll hold to it that you do."

A realm beyond the distant constellations?

A glimmer of hope in her youthful diamond eyes.

 _My world._

…

"Do you think…?"

A world of white.

Standing so close yet-

 _Don't turn around._

"If we m-"

But I…

...

"-in a differ—"

s n i p

"-lifeti-"

Strands of woven fabric drift onto the clear, reflected pool of water where we stand.

It hurts.

Delicate fingers cling longingly.

"Do you think-"

You… us…we…

Start to fade away.

A mutual blink of our eyes.

And in the next instant, we've already dissipated into particles of glowing energy.

"-things would be differ-"

…

…

…

Kyanna's eyes shot wide open, meeting the sky blue ceiling. It hadn't been a horrific nightmare, but it definitely was by far the most abstract dream she had had in a long time. So cryptic and so real. She couldn't even differentiate that it was a dream while she was dreaming it. "It's a sign!" many people would claim, believing the dream to be something more, enticed by the thought that their lives were so interesting. But that same thought eventually withered when your loved one was forcefully stripped away from you.

Reality had struck her hard when she lost her mother.

Kyanna pulled open a side drawer next to her bed and brought out her diary. It was a thick decorative diary with a warm, navy blue cover personalized with stickers of glittering stars and the silver full moon. It wasn't her first diary, but it definitely wouldn't be her last either. Her mother had introduced her to writing in a journal since she was five years old. At the time, she was mainly drawing pictures and writing down the alphabet in a random order. Her mother would then date the journal entry and they would read it together. Her mother had been happy that she was practicing writing. Over time they moved to writing very short sentences about something Kyanna did on that specific day. Kyanna loved her journal time with her mother. The diary entries eventually became habitual, whether her mother intended for it to happen or not, and Kyanna found herself returning to write in it before the day was over.

The pages in her current diary were already quickly filling up with the amount of text she wrote in there every day. She wasn't the type of person to write one-sentence diary entries anymore. No, her movie-minded memory was too detailed to write everything she saw in just a couple sentences. Kyanna wanted to capture every important event and feeling she had throughout her day. If anything, those entries were her evidence from her perspective.

Recently, her diary had turned into more of a mission log, filling in meticulous details and updates about her search for the mysterious boy, Zanetan Agni.

It had been five days since she last saw him…

Three days since she discovered his name…

Two days since she started asking around the school for information…

Two whole days and there was still no information leaked out about what happened to Zanetan- Zane, as she learned that people called him by. Even the teachers had refused to give straight answers to her questions. Maybe they also had no idea what was going on. Or maybe they were sworn to keep that information a secret. Regardless, it wasn't long before all the students came to know Kyanna as "The Girl Obsessed with Zane", which wasn't too surprising for her since she _was_ asking as many people as she could about what they knew of Zane. It wasn't because she had developed a crush on him, she convinced herself. The boy had greatly helped her out in a frightening situation and she just wanted to become friends with her savior and hang out with him like what normal people did. That was all. There was nothing wrong with that, right?

As Kyanna flipped through the pages of her diary, she was reminded of all the events she had written down. She turned to a new blank page and began to scribble down her abstract dream with a black ink pen. When she reached the end of describing her dream, she sank into her bed, releasing a lengthy sigh. This was going nowhere. She impatiently tapped the end of the pen against the open page of her diary, trying to think of possible ways to obtain more information about Zane. Only one possibility came to mind. Kyanna hesitated before writing her last thought for the morning's entry.

 _Maybe my only chance to getting close to him is by befriending the Demon Princess._

 **x - x - x**

"Ahh!" Kyanna yelped as she fell face first onto the marbled floor of the crowded school hallway. Her eyes lifted ahead to see her textbooks and papers sprawled all over the floor; and walking past her was Asandra with her evil smirk on her evil little face.

"Careful there. I almost tripped on you," she said with a snarky voice, immediately leaving the scene with her two best friends. The students in the hallway simply walked around her and her mess of supplies, giving her pitied looks or giggling and whispering to nearby friends that she was _that girl obsessed with Zane_. Kyanna took back what she wrote about Asandra in her morning's diary entry. Being tripped once was receiving a warning. Being tripped twice was being threatened to give up. There was no way she would ever become friends with the Demon Princess. No way.

Kyanna pulled herself together, reaching for her fallen papers just as Suzie ran over to her to help collect her supplies.

"Ugh! I can't believe her!" Suzie scowled. "Tripping you like that two days in a row now?"

"I thought I was ready for her that time too!" Kyanna added with a grunt. She had prepared herself for any shoulder bumping, hallway tripping, locker slamming drama that she might have to encounter with Asandra ever since she stood up to the girl two days ago; but the girl was just too skilled compared to her. Her balance and agility was beyond what a normal eleven year old was capable of. Stupid prestige daughter of a rich family… Her parents probably provided her with lessons in martial arts as well!

Suzie picked up the last of Kyanna's papers, handing them to her carefully. "Where's Shaun when you need him? He's protective and great at being your bodyguard!"

"No, that's Zanetan!" Kyanna said under her breath, remembering again how his body-guarding skills had kept her out of trouble. Despite how quietly she had said that, she was sure that it was loud enough for her best friend to have heard her. But that wasn't what bother Kyanna. What bothered her was why Suzie had chosen to keep quiet instead of teasing her like she normally did, or even replying back to her at all in the first place.

"Are you okay?" Suzie finally asked helping Kyanna to her feet. The dark haired girl nodded solemnly. "All right. Let's head to class. I'll teach you how to make this awesome origami plane that you can throw at Asandra's face! It's called the Reaper!"

The girls' next hour class was given the last few minutes to get a start on their homework. Of course, they didn't work on homework for the remainder of the class period. Instead, Suzie was teaching Kyanna how to fold the Reaper out of scrap paper in attempts to cheer her up.

"Wait until you see it in action! This type of airplane is incredible when it flies! It doesn't just crash to the ground all stupidly," Suzie rapidly explained, her voice sounding higher than usual. Kyanna was happy that her friend was so passionate about the hobby, but a specific word in Suzie's sentence threw her off.

"Stupidly huh?" she repeated softly, dazed by the distant memory of him.

Her tone of voice did not go unnoticed by Suzie. The brunette caught on and waved her half-folded piece of paper in front of Kyanna's face. "Did he say that word in the hottest voice you've ever heard?" she teased. Kyanna was glad her friend was replying back in her usual way again.

"Nooo!" she protested dragging out the syllable, but then tilted her head down slightly, smiling to herself. "It was silly when he said it."

Suzie folded a corner of the paper she had in hand. "Oh boy, you've got it bad."

Kyanna kept silent she felt her cheeks warm up. She paid attention to the way Suzie was folding the paper and followed her actions closely. Thankfully, the folding steps were easy enough to keep up and within a few minutes, both girls finished their paper airplanes. Due to Suzie's experience with the craft, her folds, creases and edges were more defined in the finished product than Kyanna's, but that didn't disappoint the dark haired girl in the slightest. She was just glad to have created something fancy out of paper with her best friend.

Suzie gave a little cheer. "And that makes the Reaper! Now all it needs is a personalized name!" She grabbed a pink coloured marker from her pencil case and wrote her name on one side of her airplane's wings, dotting the "I" in her name with a heart instead of a dot. On the other side she wrote Shaun's name drawing a heart right after his name. "The Suzie-Shaun!" she exclaimed holding up the airplane high above her head.

This proclamation made Kyanna laugh. "The Suzie-Shaun?" she repeated in between laughter.

"I was never very good at coming up with nicknames… or names in general," the brunette confessed, lowering her plane onto the desk. "What about your airplane? What are you naming it?" She had that suggestive look in her eyes that made Kyanna a bit uneasy about saying her response aloud. But Kyanna knew that Suzie was only trying to cheer her up, so she decided to go through with it and give her origami airplane a dedicated name.

Grabbing a red marker from Suzie's pencil case, she carefully wrote out the seven letters that she had written in her diary so many times that week. The smooth motion of the pattered curves and lines were second nature to her now. A shy smile emerged as she finished the final letter of the precious name. Then she grabbed a blue marker and traced over the last two letters of the name she had written so that the colour became purple. She finished the name of the airplane by writing the last two letters of her own name with the blue marker. When it was finished, Kyanna set the marker down and flipped the airplane over so her friend could read the entire name.

"Zanetanna," Suzie read slowly and then grinned. "Okay, that's not bad, but you're missing all the lovey-dovey heart decorations."

"No way!" Kyanna refused, a more obvious blush appearing on the apples of her cheeks.

And then the bell rang.

"Time to test it out!" Suzie practically leapt out of her chair with the Suzie-Shaun in hand. She hurriedly shoved her supplies into her backpack and, without even zipping up the bag, threw it over her shoulder and ran for the door. Kyanna struggled to keep up with her best friend, eventually catching up with her in the hallway just outside the classroom.

"3-2-1-GO!" Suzie shouted, launching the airplane into the air and watching it glide in a straight path down the hallway.

"Hey! Wait up!" Kyanna yelled, trying to keep up. Not wanting to waste another second, she hastily jumped and threw her paper airplane into the air, chasing after it with Suzie as it flew down the hallway. Suzie was right, this particular way of folding the paper airplane allowed it to fly a lot smoother and farther than other origami planes she had folded before. Even better, watching the Zanetanna soar above the students' heads through the hallway was a beautiful sight for her. There was nothing obstructing its path so it was able to glide freely in the air. A few heads turned when they saw a white piece of folded paper fly past them. It gave Kyanna a sense of hope.

The two best friends ran to the end of the hallway where Suzie's plane curved in its path of direction and landed right before the stairwell. Unfortunately, Kyanna's airplane curved, hitting the side of the stairwell before tumbling down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Shoot! Now I have to go down there and find it!" Kyanna groaned, leaning over the railing.

Suzie let out a giggle, spinning the Suzie-Shaun in her hand. "Have fun! I'm going to go save our seats in the cafeteria!" She skipped off in the opposite direction while Kyanna quickly descended the winding flight of stairs until she reached the bottom.

 _Where did it go? s_ he wondered as she searched for the plane.

Just then, she heard a faint sound coming from nearby. Or at least… it sounded like it was coming from nearby. There was actually no one in sight. Kyanna wandered the area close to the stairs, following the noise until it grew slightly louder. It almost sounded like muffled sniffling. Was someone hurt?

It took a couple seconds before Kyanna finally spotted the Zanetanna resting at the borderlines between sunlight and shadows from the stair's underside. She was aware of the huge empty space underneath those stairs and how she would sometimes see people hanging out there because it was out of view from anyone's field of vision when they passed by. Maybe someone was hiding there.

As Kyanna moved closer to retrieve her paper airplane, she made out a small shape curled up toward the back of the empty space underneath the stairs. Kyanna squinted to get a better look. It was difficult to determine who it was since the shadows shrouded everything underneath it. The small figure's head was buried beneath her arms which were wrapped around her knees, but two protruding pigtailed buns gave away the name of the person before her.

It was Mae.

Wait…

Mae?!

Mae never cried. Heck, Mae never showed _any_ emotion! Why was she crying all by herself here? Where was Teri?

Where was Asandra?

Kyanna took a step forward, about to call out her name when a sudden thought made her hesitate. Should she call her Mae or Marissa? Sure everyone in school knew her as Mae ever since Asandra assigned her that nickname, but she found it a bit strange for herself to use that nickname. The professors still called her Marissa; and although Kyanna referred to the girl as Mae all the time, she had never personally addressed her face to face before. She knew such a thought was stupid to think about now of all times, but she didn't want to use a personal nickname that was shared between three best friends. She wanted to be… respectful.

"Marissa?" Kyanna finally called out.

Mae whipped her head up at the sound of her name and waved a hand out frantically. "Get away from me!" Her voice was cracked and distorted, and filled with the most emotion Kyanna had ever heard her use before. Even though her words were spoken with hatred, Kyanna ignored the rudeness of her tone. After all, it wasn't often that someone heard Mae without a monotonous voice. And besides, she was most likely embarrassed and ashamed to be seen in such a state. No one liked it when others saw them at their lowest and weakest point. Oddly enough, Kyanna was kind of amused to hear the other girl speaking with emotion for the first time ever.

But despite Mae's request, Kyanna still had to retrieve what she came down here in the first place for. She slowly took a step forward, bending over low enough to grab her origami plane. But before she could even touch it, Mae's voice rung out again.

"Did you not hear me, you stupid girl? I said go away!" her voice rose in fury. Kyanna had no idea she could even sound like that.

"I'm just grabbing my paper airplane," she stated carefully to reassure the girl that she wasn't being a threat.

The girl merely glared at her with burnt orange eyes gleaming through the darkness.

Another cheery voice faintly emerged from the connecting hallways. It was still too faint to make out words, but it sounded like whoever it was, was headed in their direction.

"-would've been possible if Mae was there. Speaking of Mae, you sure she went this way?" the light voice spoke.

Teri. And where there was Teri, there was Asandra. Even in the shadows, Kyanna saw Mae's eyes widen and her body froze like she had been turned into a statue- another rare thing for her to do.

Asandra's devilish voice pierced the silent air. "I know she did. She's probably hiding in a dark corner."

Kyanna recollected herself, picking up her paper airplane like it was the most natural thing for her to be doing at the moment. When she turned to leave, she found her path blocked by Asandra and Teri. They had stopped a few feet in front of her, staring at her like a strange animal.

"You look like you know something," the Demon Princess blatantly spoke with a hand on her hip.

"Nothing you don't already know," Kyanna shot back, trying not to sound suspicious.

"Feisty aren't we?" She eyed the paper plane. Kyanna made sure to keep the blank side (the side without the personalized name) of the airplane's wings facing the two girls. "So, you seen where Mae ran off to?"

Kyanna stared straight into Asandra's eyes, holding the intenseness of the heat and trying to block Asandra from reading past her expression. Quickly afterwards, her face wrinkled up. "She's capable of doing that?"

Asandra threw back her head and released a full-out burst of laughter. "Exactly. How would you know about that? She'll turn up, Teri. Let's grab lunch." The two girls didn't break their stare on Kyanna as they climbed the stairs to head to the cafeteria.

Kyanna stood still for a couple seconds, waiting until the two girls were out of sight and until she could safely confirm that they weren't around anymore. "They're gone," she said to Mae.

The gloomy girl scoffed loudly, still glaring at Kyanna from behind her knees. "Don't pretend to be nice."

That was it. Kyanna had tolerated her rudeness for too long. It wasn't amusing anymore. She refused to be treated that way for the generous act she did. She could have fed Mae off to the wolves, ratted her out to Asandra and Teri, but it was obvious that Mae didn't want to be discovered by the two girls in her current state. With a reflected facial expression of Mae, the dark haired girl carelessly threw her paper airplane in Mae's direction. The pointed nose of the plane struck Mae's forehead and she retaliated with a small yelp, not expecting the random plane strike.

"I did it because I wanted to. You're welcome." Kyanna left without another word.

 **x - x - x**

The 6th grade lunch period was over when the Shaun bell rang. Yes the Shaun bell. The real one hadn't even rung yet but he was so blaringly loud that he could have substituted as the real bell declaring that it was time for the 7th graders to pour into the cafeteria.

"Kyanna! This has got to stop!" He marched right up to his sister with a paper sized poster tightened in his hand. His eyes locked with hers and he shoved the poster into her face. "Look at this!"

Kyanna ripped the piece of paper out of his hands when she realized that _she_ was on the poster. The sheet was equally divided in half by the colours of royal red and ocean blue; and in the center of the paper was last year's yearbook photo of herself as well as a blown up yearbook photo of Zane. The two photos were side by side framed by a giant pink heart. Then at the top of it all was a digitally (and cheesy) cursive text that read: Please tell me everything you know about Zanetan! Kyanna is madly in love with Zane!

"What?!" Kyanna screeched. "Who did this?"

Shaun shrugged. "I don't know. Probably Asandra. You were practically asking for it when you kept asking everyone in the school about the guy."

"Oh no!" She angrily crumpled up the piece of paper. "Where did you find this?"

"It's everywhere," he said gravely.

"I don't believe this!"

"Hey, it's your fault for calling out so much attention to yourself." He snatched the crumbled paper from her hands. "We need to remove every last one of these posters. And then after that, no more Zane, okay?"

Kyanna's entire body drew back. "But I haven't even figured out what happened to him yet!"

This seemed to irritate Shaun as his eyebrows angled closer together. "Do you want to keep being mocked by the entire school?"

"Of course not! But I-"

"But what, Kyanna?" Shaun snapped, but then took a step back, the anger fleeting when he saw his sister's face fall into a broken expression: her glossy sapphire eyes growing huge as if she was recording the moment, silently hoping, _praying_ , that this was not happening- that this wasn't real. The expression was all too similar to when she had discovered that their mother was gone forever.

And that scared him.

He looked off to the side apologetically. "Look, I'm just looking out for you, alright? I don't want my only little sister to be the laughing stock of Sozin Middle School."

Kyanna remained silent, allowing her own eyes to wander anywhere except for the person in front of her.

Suzie, sensing the awkwardness that had crept into the sibling's conversation, took the initiative to break the ice. "Okay you two, let's just focus on getting rid of all these posters for now," she said with a nervous smile as she moved in between the siblings.

"Yeah. We'll do that," Shaun replied, still in a serious tone. This worried Suzie, mostly because it was so unusual for him to be speaking this way. He was always a goofball even when he was pouting. A nerve had definitely been hit.

Shaun started walking towards the lunch tables.

"Where are you going?" Suzie shifted her posture to keep her gaze on him.

He didn't turn around to face the two girls as he responded. "It's my lunch period and I'm hungry. I'll take down posters after lunch."

The girls didn't move from their current spot for the next couple seconds. It took Suzie three tries to pull Kyanna's arm forward and get her to move to the hallways again.

When they reached the main hallway, they immediately noticed that the walls and lockers were excessively covered with the same posters that Shaun had shared with them. It was a horrifying transformation. Kyanna could only gape at the scene in front of her. It wasn't like this before her lunch period! How could all of this have happened in under forty-five minutes? Asandra went crazy with this!

"There's no way we'll be able to take all of it down with just a few minutes left!" Kyanna cried out.

"We'd better get started," a determined Suzie stated, already ripping off a collected bunch of overlapping posters from the nearest wall. The two friends made their way through the hallways, tearing every single poster in sight and throwing it in the closest trash can. They must have filled up at least three of the smaller sized trash bags.

Everywhere they went, students turned to snicker amongst their friends, having seen the poster of Kyanna's "obsession". As if it wasn't already bad enough. Kyanna could feel the heat of the students' gaze as their eyes followed her down the hallways; she could hear the whispers that were exchanged and knew they were talking about her. She couldn't go two steps without being looked at like a circus freak. But she was relieved that no one had bothered to say anything to her face. Kyanna didn't want to confront anyone at the moment, not when she still had to remove all the stupid posters.

A couple teachers who had decided to step out of their classrooms were bewildered by the vandalism. They probably would have stopped the two girls to question them, had Kyanna not shot them a menacing look that clearly implied that she didn't want to talk about the matter. It wasn't her fault. Why would she even think of advertising something so personal like that all over the school? Reprimand the person who did it instead of the person whom it was concerning. Besides, she and Suzie were at least taking care of the situation instead of complaining about it and leaving it be.

After long minutes of torturous stares and poster ripping, the two girls settled near the hallway where their next class was. The hallways were nearly empty as the students scurried off to their classrooms which was a great relief for Kyanna. She tore off another ridiculous poster and, for the first time since Shawn showed it to her, examined the photos poorly decorated on the piece of paper. Kyanna emitted a soft smile, bringing the poster to eye level. It had been five days since she last saw Zane's face, and being able to see it again (and with him holding a smile) gave her a sense of hope. He was still as good looking as she remembered him to be. Although the photo was taken a year ago, not much had changed in his facial features; maybe just some subtle things but it was still enough to make her want to drool all over him again. She lightly caressed the left side of his face with her pointer finger but immediately pulled away, feeling silly for doing such a thing. Her face flushed and she hurriedly glanced around her to make sure no one, especially Suzie, saw what she had just done.

Maybe it would be okay to keep just one poster. Just to keep his picture. She slipped the poster into one of her folders.

As Kyanna proceeded to turn the corner of the hallway, she caught sight of a familiar figure standing sideways from her towards a set of lockers plastered with the posters. Asandra.

The dark haired girl gasped, retreating behind the corner.

"What is it?" Suzie asked, throwing away a stack of posters before joining her behind the corner.

"Asandra," Kyanna responded with disgust. The two girls peeped out just enough to observe Asandra still standing before the set of lockers with a small stack of the posters clutched in one hand. "Ugh. I can't believe her! Putting up all those posters like that? I never thought she could be this evil."

"I know. Now you understand why I hate her so much."

Frustrated beyond words, Kyanna stepped a foot out, about to confront the Demon Princess, but Suzie firmly gripped her arm holding her back before she could take another step. "Wait. Study period is going to start any second now. Let's go for the attendance and then sneak back out to take down the rest of the posters." She meant every word but left out the thought that she didn't want her best friend to get into a fight with a person she had no chance against. Kyanna would've interpreted that statement as Suzie doubting her strength when she was only looking out for her friend with good intentions. So she decided to stick with logical reasons in attempt to persuade her.

Kyanna gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, repressing the urge to storm over to her opponent and giving her a piece of her mind. As much as she wanted to, she knew her friend was right. Taking that course of action was the smarter move. "Fine," she finally submitted.

With a silent sigh, Suzie pulled her best friend in for a warm hug. "Smile, girl. You've been letting all of this affect you way too much."

"It's all because Asandra's made it ten times worse," she muttered and then peered around the corner again. "I mean, look at her!"

They watched as Asandra cautiously glanced around her before gripping a single poster from her small stack in her other hand and holding it in front of her face. Kyanna and Suzie shared a confused look. What was Asandra doing just standing there examining her own poster? That's when they finally noticed that the girl wasn't wearing her signature evil smirk. Before either of them could comprehend what was happening, Asandra let out an infuriated cry, shoving the pile of posters into a nearby trash can. Without a moment of hesitation, she violently ripped off another poster and the next thing they knew, the paper was set to flames. It fluttered to the ground lifelessly. Asandra watched it burn and shrivel to black, her chest heaving heavily.

Their jaws dropped. Kyanna and Suzie didn't need to say anything to know they were both thinking the same thing. The stunned look on their faces said it all.

Before the Demon Princess left the scene, she carefully picked up the ashy remains and dumped it with the rest of the papers in the trash. She was gone before Kyanna had time to recollect herself. When she finally regained composure, she and Suzie ran up to spot where specks of ash still lingered behind. No one knew what to say. The scene was unlike anything the girls had ever witnessed before. That didn't look like someone who was scoring victory.

"Did Asandra just…?" Kyanna started, blankly staring down the hallway where the girl had disappeared to.

"I'm confused," Suzie said slowly.

"Me too."

The bell rang.

 **x - x - x**

Saturday came, and on Saturdays Kyanna went to assist her grandmother at work. Her grandmother worked at a daycare which received a good amount of business. However, Saturdays were when her grandmother, Miss Kara as called by the children, was usually by herself since less children were being dropped off. But Kara always welcomed the extra help, especially when Kyanna loved playing with the children.

The eleven year old girl knelt down beside a two and a half year old girl who was scribbling wildly on the white sheet of paper in front of her. She admired the toddler's concentrated look as she coloured in the grass with a fat, green crayon. The little girl was so precious and so full of hope. That was probably why her name _was_ Hope. Kyanna had first met the girl a year ago after her grandmother suggested that she should be the one to care for the toddler at the daycare; and during that time, the two had quickly bonded. It was always uplifting to see Hope's round, innocent face constantly smiling as if the world was always bright and beautiful. In a sense, being around the little girl brought out the hopeful, optimistic nature in Kyanna that often became lost when she treaded down a darker path.

"Kya! Kya! Lookie what I draw!" The toddler exclaimed happily, waving the piece of paper in Kyanna's face. Her words were slightly slurred as she was still learning to talk.

Kyanna drew her attention back to the little girl. A wide smile shone on her face. "Wow! That's a beautiful picture! Is that me?"

"Uh-huh!" she nodded and then pointed to a human-resembling figure in the middle of the page. "Dat's you and dis is me!" It was actually just a circle with two eyes and a curve for a smile with lines for the body parts. What distinguished this "person" was the fact that there was long, dark brown hair on the circled face. Hope had even went so far as to include Kyanna's hair loopies that consisted of two small strands of hair from either side of her head that was tied together by a thin, light blue hair tie and pulled to the back. It was a hairstyle that her mother had constantly styled on her hair when she was a little girl. She continued to use the style on a daily basis, keeping the rest of the hair loose in the back.

"I love it!" Kyanna replied, moving closer to the toddler.

The little girl held the paper up, pushing it towards her caretaker. "It's for you!" she said.

"For me? Thank you!" Kyanna took the drawing but set it on the table again when Hope plopped down on her lap with a giggle. On instinct, Kyanna wrapped her arms around the girl, keeping her securely in place.

"Kyanna!" An older toddler girl ran up to the dark haired girl. "Miss Kara said the yummy snacks are ready!"

"All right! Tell her that we'll be there in a couple minutes, okay?" she smiled and the toddler ran off again.

"Is Kawa your mommy?" Hope asked, tilting her head back so she could see Kyanna's face.

"No, she's my grandmother," Kyanna corrected.

"Where is your mommy?"

Her eyes drooped slightly, but tried to keep content for the sake of the child on her lap. "She's not here anymore. She went somewhere far away. And I'll never see her again."

Hope slapped her tiny hands onto the sides of the cheek with a gasp. "Never see her again?"

"Never," Kyanna repeated. "But you see this necklace?" She held out the pendant around her neck to reinforce her question. "This necklace here?"

"The pwetty necklace!" Hope's eyes lit up.

"It belonged to my mother. She used to wear it all the time. It's all I have left of her."

Hope reached out for the pendant, tugging on it with her small hands. Her lips were slightly apart as if she wanted to say something but no words came out. Kyanna could read her expression though.

"Do you want to wear it?" she asked. Hope nodded rapidly, her brown hair bouncing with each nod. Kyanna unclasped the hook on the back of the necklace and removed it. The little girl immediately pulled the necklace toward her, eager to try it on, but Kyanna kept a firm hold on it. "Hold on," she laughed. "I'll put it on you." Hope giggled all the while, bouncing around on her lap.

"Hold still," Kyanna kindly stated. She wrapped her memento around the little girl's neck as the girl kept both hands on the silver pendant. After she finally managed to clasp it back together, she scoped up the little girl and carried her over to a mirror on the other side of the daycare. "There you go. Now you're wearing the necklace."

Hope smiled widely at her reflection in the mirror, still keeping both hands on the pendant. Kyanna couldn't help but join in with that genuine smile as she knelt beside the girl.

Suddenly, the little girl turned to her caretaker, looking her in the eyes. "Now I'm your mommy!" she declared throwing her arms around Kyanna's neck. Kyanna's eyes widened. She hesitated from the unexpected action before pulling Hope in tighter. Kyanna almost wanted to cry at her sweet and thoughtful gesture.

"You can't be my mommy," she said lovingly. "You're too little."

Hope pulled back from the embrace. "How old is a mommy?"

Kyanna honestly had no idea how to answer to that. Some mothers were still teenagers while others were around twenty or thirty, and after that they became a mother for the rest of their lives. Why did little kids have to ask such simple yet difficult questions? It wasn't that it was difficult to answer, but rather it was difficult to explain it in a way they could understand. So Kyanna tried to use words that was easy to understand while remaining truthful.

"They're older than two," she finally replied, booping Hope's nose playfully. The little girl squinted as she did so and then giggled.

"Are you more dan two?"

"Yes, I'm more than two."

"You a mommy!" Hope shouted in joy and ran off, looking behind her to see if her caretaker was going to chase after her.

Kyanna grinned. "Hey! I'm not a mommy!" she said before giving in to what the little girl wanted. Hope screamed as she was being chased, not replying back to what Kyanna had said. It seemed that their little conversation was over. The eleven year old didn't seem to mind though. She knew how short a toddler's attention span was, and was happy that she was at least able to converse with her more and more every day.

 **x - x - x**

"Incoming!"

Kyanna had no idea what was happening but ducked down anyways to avoid whatever it was that was incoming. She turned to face her older brother who jumped into the air to catch a boomerang.

"Aha!" he cried making a victory pose. "See, Suzie? Boomerang totally beats paper fans!"

"You almost hit your own sister!" Suzie argued.

"She's got a hard head. Besides, I gave her a warning." Shaun patted his boomerang delicately.

"Gee, thanks," Kyanna replied back sarcastically, taking cautious steps into the front yard. "What were you two doing?"

Suzie held out her fan, unreeling all of its folds. "I was out here practicing some tessenjutsu when, all of a sudden, Shaun appeared and called my fans weak! So I just _had_ to show him what it was capable of!"

"Me and boomerang make the best team," he stated proudly. Kyanna raised her eyebrows and shook her head at his improper grammar.

"So you can throw a boomerang," Suzie countered, "Big deal."

"As if you can even throw a boomerang! It takes skill, precision _and_ strength!"

"So does tessenjutsu!"

Kyanna could tell that this was going to go on for a while, so she took a seat on the top of the stairs leading to the front door, propping an arm on her knee so she could rest her head on it. Might as well enjoy the show and wait for the two to stop their bickering. Suzie and Shaun continued throwing comebacks at each other, trying to prove which weapon was better. She wished that Shaun would just accept that girls could fight too. After all, didn't she always fight him back when he said or did something she disagreed with?

It wasn't long before her thoughts began to wander, becoming bored with the silly-sounding comebacks that now began to sputter out of their mouths. They were obviously starting to run out of any good ones. Her eyes drifted to her surroundings until she wasn't really focused on any particular thing anymore. Fighting was unavoidable, wasn't it? Even over something as small as proving which weapon was better: paper fan or wooden boomerang? She recalled the small quarrel that she and Zane had had when they were together. They had only spent about five minutes together, and in that short amount of time, they had already managed to rile each other up. Was that bad?

"-isn't that right, Kyanna?" Shaun announced, snapping her out of her trance. His face softened for a split second before becoming redefined when he saw his sister's appearance. His changed expression made Suzie turn around to face the dark-haired girl sitting on the stairs.

"What?" Kyanna asked in confusion.

"You have that look on your face," Shaun noted.

"What look? This is just my face."

"No." He advanced toward his sister. "You have that look that says you're thinking of something- something that's been on your mind for a while now."

"We're humans, Shaun," she said annoyed. "We think about things all the time."

"You know what I'm talking about! You're thinking about Zane, aren't you?!"

Kyanna had to hold her whole body back from making any obvious nervous reactions. What was wrong with him? There was nothing wrong with thinking about Zane. She attempted to reply with a steady voice. "I'm thinking about a lot of things! Like how fans are better than boomerangs!" The words had spilled out of her mouth before she could think about what she was saying. At the very least she wanted to ensure the two that she was paying attention to their argument minutes ago. However, she didn't really prefer one weapon over the other and had only said that to get back at Shaun for constantly degrading women. What surprised her was that neither Shaun nor Suzie reacted appropriately to her sided response. It was because she had avoided the direct question and didn't deny that she was indeed thinking about him, wasn't it? Kyanna wanted to bury her face within her hands.

"Are you sure?" Shaun continued. He had only seen her in that state of deep pensiveness once before, and that was three years ago. "You seem really tense."

"So do you two!"

There was a moment of silence.

It was interrupted when a familiar voice entered.

"Hey guys!" the cheerful voice greeted. It was Aaron. He always came over on the weekends to hang out. Unfortunately, he entered at the wrong time. No one said anything back. They only faced each other with intense stares, trying to ignite some confessions.

Aaron was the one to break the silence, not being able to stand the awkwardness anymore. "Uhh, is it just me or did something bad happen over the week that's gotten you guys all… uhh I don't know…"

"Tense?" Kyanna finished for him, being sure to emphasize the word with distaste. "Yeah, Shaun would probably agree with you on that."

"Well, what happened? I'm sure we can find a way to work it out," the younger boy reassured.

"It's too complicated, Aaron," Shaun started. "All you need to know is that Kyanna's completely fallen head over heels for this random guy named Zanetan Agni and believes that he's the person she's going to marry-"

"I never said that-!"

"You were thinking it though!" He looked between his sister and Suzie while replying. "You two are only eleven years old!" he stressed that fact. "You should be playing with dolls!"

"Why? Because we're _girls_?" Kyanna stood up, appearing taller since she was standing on the stairs.

"Not just because you're girls!"

"Hey! Hey!" Aaron interfered, now understanding why Suzie was so quiet being in the middle of the sibling's argument. "Um, why don't we just go back to the fortuneteller and ask her for another reading? Maybe she could answer more of your questions."

"That's a great idea, Aaron," Kyanna said satisfied but still with a hint of anger in her voice. "See, at least one person can think of a solution."

"A _possible_ solution! And there is no way I am ever going back to that silly fortunetelling place again! Once was already too much!"

"Free food," Suzie finally peeped, trying to remain indifferent.

That made Shaun go quiet as he considered the incentive. Free food was usually a determining factor, but this time was an exception. "I can't. You're not going to find anything new about Zanetan anyways. You're wasting your time."

"Fine. We didn't want you to come with us anyways. Let's go." Kyanna stomped down the steps to exit the front yard. Aaron and Suzie followed behind but hesitantly, not wanting to enrage Kyanna any more than she already was. They also didn't want to leave the two siblings off on a bad note like this.

"Suzie! Are you really going there too?" He spun around to face the brunette who appeared to be torn in between her two friends. "Suzie, we talked about this." It almost sounded like he was pleading to her.

Suzie lowered her eyes. "I know, Shaun. But… Kyanna's my best friend. I can't betray her. I'm sorry."

Kyanna flinched, pausing in her direction to glance at the two. They talked about it? Talked about what? About Kyanna? And when? Where was Kyanna during this "talk"? How come she wasn't there? In her mind, it was like they were keeping things from her and talking behind her back. She hated that.

"You guys were talking about me?" Kyanna cried out, the hurt in her voice prominently coming through. Suddenly, the world was feeling very, very distorted. The two friends realized their mistake. A little too late though. Kyanna looked at her best friend. "You were going to betray me?"

"I didn't betray you!" she claimed. "Didn't you just hear me say that?"

"And what about you?" she pointed an accusing finger at her brother. "What was so important that you couldn't tell me?"

It was his turn to look completely helpless and try to explain himself. But before he could utter out a single syllable, Kyanna turned her back to them. "Forget it. Aaron and I will go by ourselves to the fortuneteller."

"Kyanna!" Suzie shouted disheartened.

"I'm not mad at you, Suzie. I just want to be alone with Aaron right now. We'll be back." She didn't bother to look behind her as she marched down the road to the fortune teller's house. Shaun and Suzie gave Aaron a concerned look as if they were telling him to watch after the girl.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine," Aaron reassured but the forced smile on his face said otherwise.

The two friends moved in silence for the first few minutes with Aaron lingering a few paces behind Kyanna. She seemed a bit intimidating to approach at the moment.

"Sooo, how was the daycare today?" Aaron started out, trying to make conversation.

"It was fine. Hope drew me another picture today."

"That's great! I'm glad you two are getting so close!"

"Yeah. How about you and Garrett? Have you been getting better at Ba Gua?" Garrett Soh was Aaron's guardian and father figure since he was a baby. Being an expert on the martial arts of Ba Gua, he was able to teach Aaron everything he knew about the martial art since the day Aaron could walk. The boy had never mentioned his parents before. He was probably too young to have even remembered them. Kyanna could relate to that feeling of growing up without a parent, so she never pressed with that topic until he was ready.

"I'm getting really good at it! Garrett said I'm doing great for my age. I even came up with a fun new move the other day!" he said with a wide smile.

Kyanna's face seemed to lighten up. "Cool! You should show me sometime."

"Sure!"

"Hey, do you think Garrett would know anything about Tai Chi?"

"He might, but his specialty is Ba Gua, so he won't know everything about Tai Chi. Why? Were you thinking of taking Tai Chi classes?" he said, finally walking alongside Kyanna.

"I was, but I need to find a master first. I don't really know where to look."

"If you want, I could ask Garrett to see if he could teach you the basics of martial arts, like some basic forms and stances." Aaron's face brightened, delighted that he could provide some help. "Or I could ask him if he knows anyone who teaches Tai Chi. I mean, those masters must know other masters, right?" he quickly added.

Kyanna threw herself at Aaron, surprising him with a hug. Her head rested on his shoulder, not noticing the faint blush that appeared on his cheeks. "I would love that- all of that! Thank you, Aaron!"

The boy let out a goofy grin as he embraced her back. "What made you decide to take up Tai Chi classes?" he asked when they pulled away and start moving forward again.

"Oh, I… I had a couple of stalkers following me last week when I was walking home from school. I'm not sure if they were really following me or just going in the same direction, but it creeped me out. If Zane hadn't have been there…" her eyes drifted off into a daze again. "I don't even want to think about what could've happened."

Aaron nodded his head, not really sure what to say. The way she stared off into the distance made _her_ feel distant. "Well, it's a good thing he was there then. You know, if I was there, you wouldn't have to worry about anything," he stated with a comforting smile.

Kyanna chuckled playfully. "I know how strong you are, Aaron, but you don't actually look that threatening from a distance."

"Is that a bad thing?" His face fell. Kyanna properly examined the boy's figure. He was slightly shorter than her, not surprising since he was still nine years old and hadn't hit puberty yet; and although he trained and worked on his martial arts daily, he naturally had a thinner figure. Meanwhile, 8th grade Zane was beginning to grow into his build. Zane's muscular arms were already growing bulkier and Kyanna wondered if he was also training in martial arts. Since his sister seemed to be exceptionally skillful, Zane probably was too. The world was growing dangerous. Knowing some self-defense would be beneficial.

The threatening vibes didn't all emanate from their build though. Since the day Kyanna had met Aaron, she had always seen him with a look of joy upon his face. The feeling you felt when you just looked at him made you feel at ease. He was a happy kid who loved to have fun. She rarely saw him distraught and enraged. His face said that he was a peacemaker, which also came through with his actions.

Zane, on the other hand, had a stern, defined face that could easily turn others away with a single glance. It was most likely why the two men had stopped following them after Zane shot them that menacing glare. She could remember how deeply the glare struck her core when their eyes me just before they parted. It was terrifying. But when his face softened, it was… heartwarming. Kyanna remembered the way he looked when he mentioned his mother, and the look of fury when he had mentioned his father. Behind his hardened walls, he appeared hurt and confused, just like her. Maybe Kyanna was reading too much into it, but she had also felt that sense of unity when she mentioned her mother afterwards and if he had also lost his mother, that was something they had in common.

"It's not a bad thing," she reassured. "I like that. Anyways, I don't want to end up in a situation like that again, so I'll need to learn how to defend myself!"

Aaron decided to drop the topic after that.

When the two friends reached the doorstep of the fortuneteller's place, they were disappointed to find that the assistant who opened the door a crack, had blocked the door to prevent anyone from entering.

"I'm sorry but Anne Woo is feeling sick and will not be able to do any readings for a while. Come back in a couple days. Sorry again," she explained with a guilty face and then shut the door before they could say anything.

Kyanna's rested her eyes on the closed door in front of her. "Shaun was right. We didn't find any more information about Zane."

"T-that's okay," Aaron said, not wanting her to think their journey was all for nothing. He had enjoyed just being with her. "We'll come back in a couple days and try again."

"All right."

They walked back to her house in silence.

 **x - x - x**

That night, Kyanna, Shaun, Suzie and Aaron regrouped in the living room couch, making themselves comfortable with thick blankets, bowls of popcorn and party snacks, and cans of soda. They had decided to have a movie night to relax and have fun again. Thanks to Shaun's online movie subscription, the group of friends could watch an unlimited amount of movies to their heart's content and without any annoying advertisements.

Suzie and Kyanna were huddled together under a blanket sharing popcorn from the same bowl. They were still best friends despite the little dispute from before. No one mentioned anything when Kyanna and Aaron had returned from the fortuneteller's place. From the unchanged looks on their faces, Suzie and Shaun reasoned that the two probably didn't find what they were looking for. It was for the best not to bring anything up that could set one of them off anyways.

Beside Suzie was Shaun stuffing his face with his own bowl of buttered popcorn and sitting way too comfortably on the couch, his leg touching Suzie's. On Kyanna's other side was Aaron, occasionally popping in a bite-sized pretzel. "Too much junk food was bad for you," he often stated to the group. As a diligent student of Ba Gua, he was always trying to practice healthy lifestyles as guided by his guardian. For that reason, he was a vegetarian. If he was to maintain a strong figure, he couldn't slack off by losing control of his diet.

The group of friends had started watching a horror movie. The room lights were off- the only light was shining from the 36 inch television screen. Kyanna's grandmother had sternly informed the four friends not to watch anything with a rating of PG-13 or R because she didn't want them to be traumatized and scared to sleep at night. Shaun had quickly brushed her along saying that they would keep it PG. Then as soon as she left the room, he grabbed the remote and scrolled through the option of movies. "We're watching something PG-13! I'm old enough and the effects are hilarious, not scary!" The other under-aged friends stared at him like he was crazy but were also curious to watch something that wasn't childish for once.

Their eyes were glued to the screen. The suspense was building up with the ambient music starting to grow louder and the girl in the movie progressing deeper into the narrow, dark corridors of the abandoned building. All four friends anticipated something to jump out at any moment. When? They could only wait for it to happen. The girl took another painfully slow and careful step into the corridor… and then-

"PAUSE THE MOVIE!" Shaun screamed out of nowhere, making everyone in the room scream and jump into each other's arms. He paused the movie and ran to turn the lights on. Everyone squinted and shielded their eyes when the bright lights flickered on.

"Shaun!" Kyanna shouted. "What's your problem?!"

"Yeah! We were scared out of our wits!" Suzie joined in.

"And that wasn't even from the movie!" Aaron added loudly with a blanket wrapped around his head like a hood.

"My popcorn bowl is empty!" he shrieked, sticking his hand in the empty popcorn bowl to show his devastation. "I'm going to make some more for myself." He was out of the room before anyone could make another comment.

"Ugh that boy!" Suzie retorted. "I'm going to go show him what happens when you mess with Suzie!" She ran after Shaun without another hesitation, leaving Kyanna and Aaron behind to recover from their sudden state of shock.

"Leave it to Shaun to do something like that," Kyanna stated.

"I know!" the younger boy remarked. "I could've attacked him from my training reflexes!"

"But didn't you hide under the blanket instead?" she lightly laughed.

"I-I was preparing my defenses!"

His stammering made her giggle even more. "Maybe you should work on controlling yourself for Shaun's surprise sneak attacks."

"But this is Shaun we're talking about here! His sneak attacks are so random!"

"Zane could easily play along with my act when I randomly showed up," she grumbled to herself to the side.

There it was again. Aaron kept his eyes focused on her, noticing how that light in her eyes slipped away with the mention of Zane. He had talked with Suzie and Shaun when he and Kyanna had returned from the fortuneteller's place. At that time, Kyanna was helping her grandmother with dinner, so the three of them could talk without worrying that she would overhear. Suzie and Shaun had filled him in with the details of what had happened that week. The three of them discussed Kyanna's obsession with Zane and how it was affecting all of them, especially Kyanna herself. They wanted to help, but how to help was the difficult part they couldn't find a solution for.

"Kyanna?" he finally spoke out, unwrapping the blanket from his body.

"Yeah, Aaron?"

His eyes didn't meet hers as he proceeded with his next question- too anxious to see her full-fledged reaction. "Why _are_ you so obsessed with Zanetan?"

As expected, Kyanna's eyebrows narrowed and she moved into a defensive position. "I'm not obsessed. I just want to see him again after he helped me out. Why does everyone keep thinking that I'm secretly in love with him?"

From the hardened tone of her voice, Aaron could conclude that she was fed up with all the questionings about her and Zane. But he had already thrown the topic out there in the open. There was no stopping now. "Well, because that's all you talk about now."

"What?" she sounded offended. "I talk about other things too! Like martial arts! And Hope! And how school is doing."

"Yeah, but you always somehow manage to bring up Zanetan again."

"Oh, is it annoying you now too?" she snapped.

"No! I didn't mean that at all!" His eyes lifted to meet hers and quickly diverted them when he caught her angry glare. "It's just that… it seems like you haven't been able to focus on anything else besides him now. And the fact that you're doing _all this_ just to see some guy you've met for five minutes is… really unlike you. It's not healthy."

"I didn't realize you were the expert on deciding what's healthy for me."

"That's not what I-"

"And he's not just some guy! He's an 8th grader in our own school! I felt like I was already so connected to him even though that was our first time meeting each other!"

That was right. They had been pretending to be friends. _She_ had been pretending. Then why did her "pretending" feel like she was being her natural self?

By then, Suzie and Shaun had reappeared by the door of the living room but stood frozen in shock when they encountered the two arguing. Aaron's face fell slightly. "See Kyanna, this is what we mean about you being obsessed with him-"

"No!" Kyanna objected, rising to her feet. "I knew you guys wouldn't understand. This is more than me being obsessed with him. Haven't you noticed that he's suddenly disappeared from school without any warning or reason? And that Asandra _and_ the teachers keep avoiding the questions I ask? They're hiding something! Something is obviously going on! I was one of the last people to see him. I could've done something more! Now he could be hurt and no one's doing anything about it!"

Silence.

The other three friends exchanged a look.

"What?" Kyanna spun around so she could have a view of everyone in the room. "Now you have nothing to say?"

Suzie shuffled her feet before softly replying. "You just admitted that you were ob-"

"Okay, I admit it!" Kyanna yelled, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence. "There! Are you happy now?! Ever since we met he's been on my mind all the time and I can't help but like him! Is that what you wanted to hear me say?" Her eyes were welled with a pool of tears by now. Her face flushed and her fists clenched at her sides, trying so hard to keep herself from breaking down. No one knew where to go from here. Suzie tried to remain as gentle as possible, taking a careful step toward her.

"No, Kyanna, that's-"

"Well then what do you want from me?! To forget about him?! That's like asking me to forget about my mother!" Her voice rung out in the small living room, her breathing uneven and harsh like she was gasping for air.

That did it.

The three friends knew they had crossed the line.

She had just compared Zane's absence to her _mother's death_.

It was that severe. The guy meant that much to her.

They could only stare at her in shock as she lowered her head so her loose hair could hide her face.

After an excruciatingly long minute of silence, Shaun bit his lip and took a step toward his shivering sister. "Why Kyanna?" he asked gently. "I don't understand. Why do you like him so much?"

She wrapped her arms around herself, not daring to look up at her friends. "For reasons that others may never fathom."


End file.
